UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


ICTURES 


OP 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY. 


ADVANTAGES  OP  NEGRO  SLAVERY  AND  THE 
BENEFITS  OF  NEGRO  FREEDOM. 


MORALLY,  SOCIALLY,  AND  POLITICALLY  CONSIDERED. 


BY 

JOHN   BELL   ROBINSON. 

\\ 


PHILADELPHIA: 

1330  NORTH  THIRTEENTH  STREET. 

1863. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 
JOHN    BELL    ROBINSON, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 


(ii) 


PREFACE. 


To  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  the  Christian 
ministry  ;  especially  those  of  them  who  seem,  to 
have  forgotten  the  "prize  of  their  high  calling" 
and  have  converted  their  pulpits  into  places  of  politi- 
cal, sectional  strife,  and  rendezvous  for  recruiting  in 
civil  war. 

I  HAVE  written  the  following  chapters  on  the  relation 
between  Christianity,  civilization,  the  prosperity  of  the 
universe,  and  negro  slavery.  I  have  long  feared  a  dis- 
solution of  this  great  and  glorious  Union  would  sooner 
or  later  occur  in  consequence  of  sectional,  political 
questions  being  introduced  into  the  pulpits  of  the 
Christian  church,  believing  it  to  be  as  much  infidelity  to 
have  introduced  the  slave  question  into  the  church,  in  the 
way  it  has  mostly  been  done,  as  it  would  be  to  deny  that 
the  several  Epistles  of  Paul  were  a  part  of  the  Gospel. 

Had  I  not  just  grounds  for  fears  when  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  divided 
in  1844  on  the  slave  question,  and  a  majority  of  that 
body  deposed  a  bishop  who  stood  high  for  his  talents, 
zeal,  and  great  moral  worth,  who  had  never  owned  a 
slave,  though  a  Georgian  by  birth,  education,  and  resi- 
dence through  his  entire  life,  but  had  recently  married 
a  lady  who,  a  short  time  before,  fell  heir  to  two  or 
three  little  negro  children,  whom  she  had  to  raise  up  to 
maturity  ?  For  marrying  this  lady,  Bishop  Andrews 
was  suspended  from  his  office  as  bishop.  Since  that 


446078 


IV  PREFACE. 

day  I  have  feared  just  what  is  now  upon  us,  and  at 
every  fit  opportunity  since,  I  have  tried  to  make  those 
who  led  that  dangerous  experiment  (and  all  others  who 
seemed  to  approve  of  the  course  of  that  General  Con- 
ference) see  the  ruin  they  would  plunge  both  church 
and  State  into,  if  they  did  not  stop  their  denunciations 
of  slavery  from  their  pulpits,  and  treat  the  question 
as  St.  Paul  did  in  his  day. 

I  have  often  desired  to  write  and  publish  my  opinions  to 
the  world,  but  being  without  an  education,  and  but  little 
schooling,  the  Child's  Primer,  Webster's  Speller,  En- 
glish Reader,  and  Bennett's  Arithmetic,  having  .been 
the  only  school  books  used  in  those  days,  where  I  was 
schooled,  and  any  knowledge  beyond  the  rudiments  of 
these  branches  was  thought  ruinous  to  all  scholars  who 
should  happen  to  pass  those  limits.  An  educated  man 
or  woman  was  thought  very  dangerous,  therefore  the 
children  were  not  allowed  to  cross  those  limits,  conse- 
quently I  felt  that  I  was  incompetent  to  such  a  duty. 
But  when  the  John  Brown  raid  was  made  in  Virginia,  I 
was  satisfied  something  would  have  to  be  speedily  done, 
or  our  end  as  a  republic  and  a  free  people  was  near. 
Knowing  there  was  no  other  sectional  question  besides 
the  slave  question,  and  that  no  other  could  jeopardize 
our  national  Union,  I  thought  I  would  write  a  pam- 
phlet of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  pages,  contrasting 
slaves  with  free  negroes,  and  slave  negro  labor  with  free 
negro  labor,  showing  the  superiority  of  one  to  the  other, 
to  which  I  have  devoted  Chapter  III.  of  this  book. 
But  I  soon  found  I  had  given  myself  too  short  a  limit, 
and  I  have  written  some  eight  or  nine  hundred  pages, 
12mo.,  all  of  which  was  ready  in  the  summer  of  1861  ; 
but  finding  nearly  all  of  my  old  friends  so  directly  op- 
posed to  me,  and  being  denounced  with  such  bitterness 


PREFACE.  V 

by  some,  and  ridiculed  by  others,  that  I  found  my  moral 
courage  not  equal  to  the  task,  so  I  was  kept  back  in 
that  way  till  other  circumstances  intervened,  which 
stopped  me  until  now,  and  now  I  only  feel  at  liberty 
to  publish  half  of  the  work. 

A  part  of  the  second  chapter  was  written  for  the  New 
York  Methodist  in  1860,  but  was  refused  a  place  in 
that  paper,  for  reasons  the  reader  will  see  in  the  corres- 
pondence between  my  friend,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Crooks, 
and  myself,  at  the  end  of  the  chapter ;  it  was  returned 
to  me  in  the  following  February ;  after  which  time  I 
enlarged  it  to  its  present  size  by  discussing  the  points 
more  extensively.  The  first  and  second  chapters  are  on 
human  slavery,  as  set  forth  in  the  Bible.  The  ap- 
pendix and  the  other  chapters  fully  sustain  my  position. 
Then  I  have  copied  two  written  addresses  by  ex-Sena- 
tor Bigler  of  Pa.,  one  on  the  Crittenden  Compromise, 
the  other  on  the  only  plan  by  which  this  Union  can 
ever  be  restored. 

I  know  I  shall  meet  with  bitter  opposition  and  severe 
denunciations  for  my  views,  but  knowing  that  with  the 
overthrow  of  this  Union  will  end  all  my  hopes  of  peace 
and  pleasure  in  this  world,  not  only  mine,  but  all  others, 
and  all  future  generations  ;  therefore  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  publish  this  much  of  the  original  now,  notwith- 
standing the  severe  chastisements  that  may  be  inflicted 
upon  me.  I  appeal  to  Him  who  kuoweth  the  secrets  of 
all  hearts,  for  my  sincerity. 

When  I  say  I  have  no  sympathy  with  secession  or  rebel- 
lion, I  mean  just  what  I  say.  I  hope  do  one  will  pass 
sentence  upon  me  until  they  have  heard  me  through ;  then, 
if  I  am  found  guilty,  I  must  submit  to  the  penalty. 

I  have  written  a  chapter  on  the  causes  of  the  civil 
war  in  this  beloved  country,  that  will,  perhaps,  surprise 


yi  PREFACE.  •  r 

the  reader  more  than  anything  herein  published  ;  when 
he  comes  to  see  the  mass  of  evidences  I  have  adduced, 
pointing  out  the  sections,  parties,  and  the  very  men, 
many  will  wonder  how  this  great  calamity  was  produced 
without  their  knowledge  of  the  facts  which  were  all 
around  them.  That,  with  thirteen  other  chapters,  I 
intend  to  publish  at  a  proper  time. 

I  believe  the  Christian  church  could  now  restore 
peace  and  union  to  this  entire  country,  if  the  Christian 
ministers  in  all  the  free  States  would  speedily  return  to 
their  legitimate  calling ;  for  right  will  beget  right,  and 
as  sure  as  God  reigns  in  heaven,  everything  will  beget 
its  kind.  If  we  want  peace  we  must  sow  peace  ;  if  we 
want  war  we  must  sow  war,  "for  whatever  we  sow  of 
that  shall  we  also  reap," 

I  had  arranged  eight  of  the  following  chapters  in  a 
book  of  twenty-one  chapters,  which  were  the  6,  *7,  9,  10, 
13,  17,  18,  19,  therefore  they  will  read  somewhat  awk- 
wardly, as  references  are  frequently  made  in  those  chap- 
ters to  authors  and  chapters  I  have  left  to  be  published 
hereafter,  though  I  altered  them  so  as  to  chime  in  the 
best  I  could. 

My  Orthodox  and  Hicksite  Quaker  friends  must 
pardon  me  for  the  chapter  I  have  written  on  their  con- 
nection with  the  causes  of  this  bloody  civil  war,  now 
devastating  this  great  and  glorious  empire.  I  felt  it  a 
duty,  as  I  had  alluded  to  them  in  the  first  chapter  with- 
out fully  explaining  my  .views  of  their  character.  A 
large  part  of  the  book  was  put  in  type  in  my  absence 
from  the  city ;  'therefore  some  awkward  blunders  may 
have  occurred  in  consequence,  the  book  having  been 
compiled  from  the  whole  manuscript  a  little  hasty.  I 
hope  Chapter  III.  will  be  read  by  all  good  men  and 
women. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Pictures   of   Slavery  by  Noah,  Moses,  and  the  other 

Patriarchs   .  13 


CHAPTER  II. 

Pictures  of  Slavery  by  St.  Paul  of  the  New  Testament .       66 
Nature  of  the  Africans,  in  four  letters       .        .        .   131-155 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Difference  between  Slave  Negro  Labor  and  Free 

Negro  Labor 168 

CHAPTER  IT. 

Mixing  of  blood  between  the  White  and  Black  Races 
forbid  by  the  Law  of  Nature  and  Nature's  God        .      223 

CHAPTER  V. 

Who  are  Union  Men  and  who  are  Anti-Union  Men  ?    .      247 

CHAPTER  VI. 

What  Connection  had  the  Quakers  or  Friends  with  the^. — - 
Instigators  of  the  War  ? S\      293^ 

(Tii  6- 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE 

Do  as  you  would  be  done  by  .        .        .        .        .       .      314 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Correspondence  between  Mrs.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  and 
Mrs.  Child,  of  Massachusetts     /      .        .        .        .338 

APPENDIX. 

Ex-Senator  Bigler's  Letters  on  the  Crittenden  Com- 
promise, and  Plan  for  Settlement        .        .        .      374-382 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

The  Moral  Question  of  Slavery — Is  Negro  Slavery  as  it  exists 
in  the  United  States  a  Moral  Evil? 

THIS  question  has  been  discussed  in  the  United 
States,  pro  and  con,  for  nearly  eighty-five  years.  I 
believe  the  Quakers  were  the  first,  as  a  Christian 
association,  who  took  the  idea  that  slavery  was  anti- 
christian.  And,  if  I  mistake  not,  their  faith  or  moral 
notions  on  the  subject  was  predicated  upon  a  feeling 
that  they  would  not  (themselves)  like  to  be  slaves 
under  negro  masters.  Therefore,  they,  as  a  religious 
society,  abolished  slavery  among  themselves  in  or 
about  1780.  But  the  Orthodox  or  Foxites,  as  a  reli- 
gious association,  has  never  interfered  with  other 
people's  rights ;  that  is,  they  have  not  united  in  po- 
litical associations  to  oppose  the  institution  of  slavery 
as  a  civil  institution.  They  only  opposed  it  among 
themselves  as  a  religious  society ;  but  left  other  peo- 
ple to  do  as  they  pleased.  There  was  a  split  in  the 
Society  of  Friends-  in  1827.  Led  by  a  certain  man 
named  Elias  Hicks,  who  came  out  against  the  atone- 
ment of  our  Lord,  and  declared  that  his  blood  was 
2  (  13  ) 


14  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

of  no  more  account  than  that  of  a  bull  or  ram.  He 
diffused  his  infidelity  through  the  minds  of  very 
many  of  that  most  excellent  and  influential  Christian 
union.  All  of  these,  religious,  ignorant,  and  scep- 
tical, followed  Elias  Hicks  in  his  treason  and  seces- 
sion, and  formed  another  association,  and  called 
themselves  Friends,  or  Quakers — commonly  known 
as  Hicksites.  This  latter  organization  are  generally 
Abolitionists  of  the  Garrisonian  school,  and  have 
formed  associations  to  interfere  with  the  civil  and 
moral  rights  of  others,  even  against  constitutional 
laws.  They  have  united  with  associations  to  form 
underground  railroads,  to  run  off  slaves  from  their 
masters.  Through  this  sham  society  called  Quakers, 
the  true  Quakers,  or  Foxites,  have  been  compelled 
to  endure  much  persecution.  In  all  external  appear- 
ance, the  Quakers  and  secessionists  are  similar ;  and 
the  Orthodox  or  Foxites  ^have  been  charged  with  all 
of  their  infidelity,  for  they  call  themselves  the 
Society  of  Friends. 

But  the  Hicksite  Quakers  are  not  the  only  class 
of  men  and  women  who  have  interfered  with  the 
legal  institutions  of  other  States.  But  every  infidel 
association  that  has  sprang  into  existence  for  the 
last  fifty  years  has  seized  upon  the  negro  slavery  of 
the  United  States  as  a  great  and  terrible  moral  evil. 
Men  and  women  who  were  guilty  of  every  kind  of 
abomination,  would  seem  to  look  upon  the  institution 
of  negro  slavery  with  horror,  on  account  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  its  moral  wickedness,  and  denounce  Chris- 
tian slaveholders  as  thieves,  murderers,  and  robbers, 
and  the  Christian  Church  as  the  centre  of  all  abomi- 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  15 

nations,  because  slaveholders  are  admitted  to  their 
communions.  Infidelity  has  assumed  every  shape 
and  form  known  to  skilful  invention,  through  which 
they  could  bring  the  slightest  influence  to  bear 
against  Christianity.  But  no  shape  nor  form  of 
infidelity  has  yet  been  discovered  that  has  answered 
their  purposes  so  well  as  antislavery ;  therefore,  all 
their  associations  have  the  antislavery  link  the  most 
prominent.  All,  all  of  whom  detest  the  Constitution, 
and  the  union  of  the  United  States.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  enumerate  the  shapes  and  forms  infidel- 
ity has  taken  within  the  last  sixty  or  seventy  years ; 
all  of  which  have  been  antislavery  and  antiunion  in 
this  country.  And  all  the  isms  invented  in  New 
England  in  the  last  fifty  years  have  placed  their 
antislavery  and  antiunion  principles  at  the  head  of 
the  list. 

Many  associations  have  been  formed  within  the 
borders  of  the  Christian  Church  who  affiliate  with 
infidelity  in  their  opposition  to  negro  slavery,  and 
in  very  many  cases  in  their  treason  against  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  union  of  the  United  States,  whose 
only  object,  I  believe,  has  been  to  overthrow  the 
Union.  Therefore  they  have  raised  the  antislavery 
standard  above  all  others,  and  have  such  standard, 
bearers  as  Wendell  Phillips,  Eev.  H.  "W.  Beecher, 
Eev.  Dr.  Cheever,  Eev.  Dr.  Thompson,  Eev.  Dr. 
Furness,  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  Gerrett  Smith,  and 
many  others  who  meet,  shake  hands,  and  call  each 
other  brother;  and  all  unite  with  one  accord  in 
the  denunciation  of  the  Constitution  and  the  union 
of  the  United  States. 


16  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

English  infidelity  has  also  denounced  the  Constitu- 
tion and  union  of  the  United  States  with  even  greater 
venom  than  our  native  infidelity ;  and  in  every  case 
the  pretext  has  "been  a  morbid  sympathy  for  the  poor 
slaves ;  all  of  which  is  to  enlist  the  malice  of  man- 
kind against  the  revealed  will  of  heaven.  Those 
demon-begotten  spirits  have  in  many  instances 
assumed  a  profession  of  Christianity,  and  made  their 
way  into  the  Christian  ministry,  and  become  great 
sensation  preachers  in  the  Church  of  God,  when 
their  object  was  to  be  only  half  Christian,  and  the 
other  half  infidel,  with  a  double  purpose,  one  to 
destroy  the  union  of  States,  and  the  other  to  get  the 
people  to  support  them  while  they  were  at  it. 

Many  of  those  wlio  have  this  morbid  sympathy 
for  the  poor  slaves,  have  long  since  renounced  and 
denounced  the  Bible  as  an  infernal  book,  simply 
because  they  could  not  twist  it  far  enough  from  the 
truth,  to  make  it  condemn  slavery.  Now,  without 
the  Bible  there  is  no  moral  law  or  guide.  It  is  the 
only  constitutional  guide  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  the  only  revealed  will  of  God  to  mankind,  or 
that  ever  will  be  in  this  world.  Yet  these  pretenders 
have  become  so  tender  on  the  sinfulness  of  slavery, 
that  they  justify  and  recommend  the  extermination 
of  the  whole  white  population  of  the  slave  States,  and 
all  others  who  attempt  to  defend  them  in  their  lawful 
rights,  that  the  negro  slaves  may  be  freed,  and  placed 
on  a  social  and  civil  equality  with  We,  the  people! 

I  will  now  undertake  to  prove  from  the  only 
moral  law  or  guide  that  ever  has  or  ever  will  be  given 
in  this  world,  that  slavery  is  not  a  moral  evil.  The 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  17 

Bible  is  Jehovah's  only  revealed  will  to  mankind ; 
it  contains  all  we  ever  have  or  ever  shall  have  or 
know  of  the  moral  law,  and  he  who  attempts  to 
teach  from  any  other  moral  law,  guide,  or  doctrines, 
"is  a  thief  or  robber."  I  will  refer  the  reader  to  the 
seal  of  these  truths,  that  he  may  be  careful  how  he 
attempts  to  interfere  with  God's  moral  law  and 
revealed  will  to  mankind. 

Rev.  xxii.  18-19:  "For  I  testify  unto  every  man  that 
heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  If  any  man 
shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues 
that  are  written  in  this  book.  And  if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall 
take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy 
city,  and/rom  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book." 

I  presume  no  Christian,  or  even  a  pretending 
Christian,  will  attempt  to  deny  that  John,  while  ex- 
iled on  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  wrote  the  above  awful 
warning  to  the  churches  by  inspiration.  YetLJKe 
find  many  who  profess  to  be  called  of  God  to  preach 
his  everlasting  Gospel  to  a  fallen  world,  and  have 
been  ordained  and  set  apart  for  that  holy  and  deli- 
cate cause,  trying  to  darken  counsel  as  revealed  in 
the  book  of  God,  and  preaching  doctrines  not 
revealed  in  that  book,  and  denying  others  which  are 
as  clearly  set  forth,  as  that  of  profane  swearing,  lying, 
adultery,  fornication,  or  drunkenness,  is  forbidden, 
and  thereby  thousands  of  the  most  ungodly  and 
soul-destroying  isms  have  been  produced  in  the 
world — isms  that  have  destroyed  the  sanctity  of 
churches,  ruined  families,  destroyed  nations,  and 
damned  millions  of  souls.  And  none  has  been 

2* 


18  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

more  delusive,  deceptive,  and  destructive  to  both 
church  and  state  in  our  beloved  country,  than  the 
doctrine  that  Slavery  is  a  moral  evil,  or  sin  against 
God.  There  is  no  doctrine  more  clearly  set  forth  in 
that  book  than  the  lawfulness  of  human  slavery, 
except  those  in  the  Decalogue,  and  slavery  is  even 
set  forth  in  that  edict,  or  in  the  ten  commandments ; 
and  the  moral  question  is  so  clearly  revealed,  that  no 
man  who  is  fit  to  enter  the  sacred  desk  can  possibly 
make  a  mistake,  and  be  ignorant  of  such  mistake  on 
the  moral  question  of  slavery.  Some  ministers  who 
have  been  ordained  and  set  apart  as  expounders  of 
God's  holy  law,  for  want  of  Scripture  to  condemn 
slavery  as  a  moral  evil,  select  passages  entirely  for- 
eign, and  apply  them  to  slavery,  such  as  oppression, 
when  it  is  as  clear  that  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave  is  not  meant  as  it  is  that  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife,  or  parents  and  children  are  not  meant.  All 
are  made  precisely  the  same  in  morals,  so  far  as  the 
book  of  God  teaches  on  the  subject.  But  infidelity 
having  but  the  one  aim,  and  that  is  the  overthrow 
of  Christianity,  they,  like  their  great  exemplar,  the 
devil,  are  willing  to  give  up  this,  the  greatest  boon 
ever  bestowed  on  any  nation  (our  independence)  for 
the  sake  of  overthrowing  the  book  of  God. 
I  will  now  proceed  with  my  proofs. 

Genesis  ix.  20  to  27  inclusive:  "And  Noah  began  to  be  an 
husbandman,  and  he  planted  a  vineyard.  And  he  drank  of 
the  wine,  and  was  drunken ;  and  he  was  uncovered  within  his 
tent.  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the  nakedness 
of  his  father,  and  told  his  two  brethren  without.  And  Shem 
and  Japheth  took  a  garment,  and  laid  */  upon  both  their  shoul- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  19 

ders,  and  went  backward,  and  covered  the  nakedness  of  their 
father ;  and  their  faces  were  backward,  and  they  saw  not  their 
father's  nakedness.  And  Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and 
knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto  him.  And  he 
said,  Cursed  be  Canaan ;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto 
his  brethren.  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of 
Shem ;  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant.  God  shall  enlarge 
Japheth  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem ;  and  Canaan 
shall  be  his  servant." 

Here  we  have  the  first  introduction  of  slavery  into 
our  world,  after  the  flood,  at  least.  Abolitionists  say 
that  the  Bible  reading  is  servant,  and  not  slave,  and 
therefore  Canaan  was  only  made  a  hired  servant. 
That  servant  merely  meant  a  hireling,  but  we  are 
told  by  the  best  linguists  who  have  ever  blessed 
society,  that  the  original  meant  slave  or  bondservant, 
and  ought  to  have  been  so  translated.  But  as  the 
word  servant  is.  accommodating  and  will  represent  a 
hired,  or  a  bondservant,  or  slave,  therefore  the  word 
servant  was  used  by  the  translator.  But  it  is  too 
clear-  for  cavil,  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
Scriptures,  that  bondservant  and  hired  servant  were 
two  distinct  conditions  of  labor,  and  the  former  was 
the  curse  that  was  put  upon  Canaan  for  bad  treat- 
ment to  his  old  grandfather  while  in  an  unfortunate 
condition.  It  is  said  that  Noah  "planted  a  vine- 
yard, and  he  drank  of  the  wine,  and  was.  drunken ;" 
it  is  believed  that  this  was  the  first  wine  ever  made, 
and  Noah  not  knowing  its  intoxicating  properties 
made  himself  drunken.  It  is  the  only  account 
given  of  his  ever  being  drunk.  Some  people  ask, 
What  power  there  could  have  been  in  the  words  of 
Noah  as  above  quoted,  upon  Canaan  and  his  pos- 


20  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

terity  through  all  future  time?  I  will  answer,  that 
what  Noah  said  was  merely  prophetic,  and  that  it 
was  God  who  imposed  the  curse  upon  that  unfortu- 
nate race.  Therefore  slavery  is  a  divine  imtitution, 
which  I  think  I  shall  make  clear  to  every  sincere 
truth  seeker. 

Some  ask  why  God  should  have  been  so  cruel  to 
that  race  of  mankind.  If  I  had  lived  before  the 
Supreme  Being,  and  above  him,  and  could  have 
looked  forward  to  the  end  of  all  things  like  he  did, 
I  could,  perhaps,  tell  why  he  did  it ;  as  it  is,  I  cannot. 
But  no  doubt  it  was  done  for  the  good  of  man.  I 
will  offer  a  few  ideas  on  this  point.  Adam  disobeyed 
God  in  one  single  (and  it  would  seem  an  almost  in- 
nocent) matter ;  but  yet  he  was  expelled  from  Eden, 
he  and  his  entire  posterity  cursed  with  a  thousand 
times  more  sickening  and  terrible  curse  than  was 
Canaan  and  his  posterity.  Yet  every  true  man  will 
see  that  Ham's  crime  was  a  thousand  times  more 
flagitious.  It  is  believed  by  most  commentators 
that  Ham's  son  Canaan  was  with  him  when  he  dis- 
covered his  old  and  respected  father  in  such  an 
unfortunate  condition,  and  joined  him  in  telling  it 
to  all  they  met ;  and,  perhaps,  that  while  Ham  felt 
a  deep  vindictive  contempt  towards  his  old  father, 
when  he,  as  a  dutiful  son,  should  have  pitied  the 
good  old  patriarch,  and  hastened  to  have  covered 
him  from  the  public  gaze,  and  cautioned  his  son 
Canaan  not  to  tell  it  even  to  his  best  friend,  that  his 
father  might  not  be  disgraced  before  the  public,  and 
that  future  generations  might  not  feel  justified  in 
drunkenness,  because  the  old  patriarch  got  drunk 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  21 

through  ignorance,  he  run  off  and  published  it  to 
his  brethren. 

I  am  asked  why  Canaan  was  cursed  instead  of  his 
father  Ham  ?  I  will  say  that,  perhaps,  if  Ham  had 
been  cursed,  all  his  posterity  would  have  felt  the 
weight  of  the  displeasure  of  Almighty  God,  and  the 
innocent  would  have  suffered  for  the  guilty.  The 
whole  human  family  have  suffered  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  because  of  Adam's  disobedience, 
and  will  suffer  through  all  time,  and  unless  they  are 
saved  through  the  atonement  of  our  Lord,  they  will 
have  to  suffer  through  all  eternity.  The  reason  for 
believing  that  Canaan  was  with  his  father  Ham, 
when  he  discovered  his  father  Noah  lying  uncovered 
in  his  tent,  we  read  from  the  22d  verse :  "And  Ham 
the  father  of  Canaan  saw,"  &c.  If  Canaan  was  not 
with  his  father,  why  should  his  name  have  been 
mentioned  in  that  connection?  Japheth.  and  Shem 
had  sons,  no  doubt,  but  no  allusion  was  made  to  them 
whatever.  I  cannot  see  how  any  sincere  truth  seeker 
can  doubt  that  idea,  when  taken  in  connection  with 
the  fact  that  the  terrible  sentence  was  passed  upon 
Canaan,  instead  of  his  father.  As  I  have  already 
said,  if  Ham  had  been  cursed,  his  whole  posterity 
would  have  been  slaves  through  all  time,  and  that 
would  have  been  unjust.  And  when  we  remember 
that  God  could  not  do  an  unjust  act,  and  will  not 
punish  the  innocent,  we  must  believe  that  Canaan 
had  something  to  do  with  that  great  disrespect  to 
the  old  patriarch. 

"  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the  nakedness  of  his 
father  and  told  his  two  brethren  without." 


22  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

22d  verse  clearly  demonstrates  the  duty  of  children 
to  parents  under  every  circumstance  of  this  life, 
which  moral  law  has*  never  been  revoked  by  any 
decree  of  heaven.  Shem  and  Japheth  had  the  bless- 
ing of  their  father  bestowed  upon  them  both, 
while  Ham  was  left  out  in  the  cold,  without  the 
warming  influence  of  his  father's  blessing  to  cheer 
his  drooping  spirits  at  the  grave  of  his  sire.  But 
Canaan  was  thus  cursed  with  the  most  obnoxious 
judgment  of  any  other  physical  stain  ever  inflicted 
upon  man  since  the  fall  from  Eden.  A  curse  that 
is  and  will  be  unchangeable  this  side  of  the  grave. 
No,  "no  Jewish  type  or  sprinkling  priest  can  ever 
wash  the  stain  away."  Bythe  disobedience  of  Adam 
to  his  heavenly  Father,  all  wickedness,  all  hardness, 
and  all  that  afflicts  the  soul,  body,  or  spirit,  entered 
into  the  world,  and  fell  upon  the  whole  human 
family,  yea,  every  unpleasant  sensation,  and  all  that 
disturbs  union,  peace,  harmony,  and  tranquillity; 
even  slavery  and  abolitionism  are  all,  all  the  conse- 
quences of  his  disobedience  to  his  Great  Sire.  Had 
he  been  obedient  he  would  now  live  among  us  in 
all  the  vigor  of  youth  and  beauty  that  he  possessed 
before  the  fall.  So  also  if  Ham  and  his  son  Canaan 
had  been  true  to  their  father  and  grand-father,  there 
would  have  been  no  slaves  nor  negroes  in  this  world 
of  ours. 

24th  verse  says,  "Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and 
knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto  him," 
and  pronounced  the  unchangeable  judgment  re- 
corded in  the  25th  verse,  which  sentence  was  divine, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  23 

as  I  shall  show.  How  "Noah  knew  what  Ham  had 
done  unto  him,"  we  are  not  informed  by  the  inspired 
penman.  Some  commentators  suppose  he  was  in- 
formed by  his  two  eldest  sons.  And  others  suppose 
he  knew  it  by  inspiration.  How  he  got  the  facts,  is 
immaterial ;  he  knew  it  in  some  way ;  therefore  the 
terrible  sentence  fell  upon  the  right  one.  Ham  was 
not  exempt  from  the  effects  of  divine  displeasure, 
nor  was  any  of  his  family,  or  their  posterity.  But 
none  was  made  slaves  except  Canaan  and  his  de- 
scendants ;  "  a  servant  of  servants."  The  reader 
will  see  that  Canaan  was  not  only  a  servant  to  his 
brethren,  but  a  servant  of  their  servants.  It  is,  there- 
fore, evident  that  he  was  placed  far  below  hired 
servants.  Dr.  Hales  says,  "  Ham  signifies  burnt,  or 
black."  Therefore  his  name  was  significant.  Ham, 
nor  his  son  was  not  cursed,  because  Noah  pronounced 
those  words  against  them.  But  because  of  the 
magnitude  of  'their  crime.  The  words  of  Noah 
being  prophetic  only,  therefore  what  he  said  had  no 
influence  whatever  upon  the  physical  appearance,  or 
character  of  those  culprits,  or  their  posterity.  It 
was  the  just  judgment  of  God  for  their  crime  against 
the  old  patriarch,  who  was  their  temporal  parent. 
But  Shem  and  Japheth  took  a  garment,  and  covered 
the  nakedness  of  their  father,  without  looking  upon 
him,  as  every  good  child  would.  Therefore  a  bless- 
ing was  pronounced  upon  them.  Now  the  declara- 
.tion  of  Noah  had  no  influence  whatever  upon  the 
lives  and  characters  of  his  two  elder  sons,  or  their 
posterity,  but  simply  a  prophecy,  and  just  as  sure  as 
the  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  latter,  so  it  has 


24  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

been  in  the  former,  and  will  continue  to  be  until  the 
end  of  time. 

I  do  not  say  that  the  curse  was  a  spiritual  one 
pronounced  against  Canaan,  for  it  was  not;  but 
was  to  affect  his  civil  liberty,  and  his  physical  ap- 
pearance, and  that  of  his  posterity  for  ever.  None 
of  the  descendants  of  Ham  had  any  permanent 
abiding  place  in  this  world,  but  were  driven  about 
at  the  pleasure  of  their  brethren,  the  descendants  of 
Shem  and  Japheth.  Neither  does  it  appear  that 
Canaan  was  directly  enslaved  to  his  brethren ;  but 
the  process  of  preparation  for  bondage  was  com- 
menced immediately  on  the  pronunciation  of  the 
sentence  for  bondage,  and  went  on  through  succes- 
sive generations  until  they  were  completely  prepared 
for  the  yoke.  And  then  to  be  bond-servants  was 
the  greatest  blessing  that  man  could  bestow  upon 
them,  and  is  so  until  this  day,  and  will  be  so  through 
all  time  to  come.  This  bondage  does  not  interfere 
with  their  spiritual  liberty  and  salvation  through 
the  atonement,  and  no  doubt  millions  of  that  race 
have  embraced  it.  But  that  will  not  alter  their 
relations  in  this  world.  There  seems  to  be  some 
hope  for  them  in  the  Liberian  Colony  on  the  coast 
of  Africa.  Yet  I  fear  it  will  prove  a  failure,  though 
the  climate  is  in  their  favor,  as  it  naturally  forbids 
the  residence  of  the  whites  there,  by  a  prohibitory 
law  that  is  insurmountable,  and  perhaps  unchange- 
able. But  when  the  influence  of  the  Anglo-saxon 
races  shall  be  entirely  withdrawn  from  the  colonies, 
the  great  probability  is  they  will  sink  into  their 
original  heathenism  and  barbarism.  They  are  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  25 

only  tribes  on  the  earth  that  can  be  easily  reduced 
to  slavery,  and  who  prosper  and  improve  best  under 
the  yoke  of  bondage.  But  I  do  not  wish  to  dis- 
courage the  experiment  being  fully  tried  in  Liberia, 
for  if  there  is  any  degree  of  freedom  for  them  in 
this  world,  it  is  there,  and  only  there. 

The  Chinese  are  made  slaves  in  the  tropical  re- 
gions, or  the  West  India  Islands,  but  two-thirds  of 
them  die  off  prematurely.  The  Cooleys  are  being 
brought  in  large  numbers  and  sold  into  bondage  on 
all  those  Islands  for  a  term  of  about  eight  years, 
and  perhaps  the  half  of  them  die  off  before  they 
are  free,  and  those  who  live  the  eight  years  have 
not  life  enough  left  in  them  to  enable  them  to  pro- 
cure-a  livelihood.  But  the  Africans  are  greatly 
improved  by  the  yoke  of  bondage  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  especially  in  the  sunny  climes  of  the 
torrid  zones,  and  they  become  vigorous,  strong, 
lively,  happy,  and  long  lived  in  the  low  hot  cli- 
mates. While  those  climates  positively  forbid  con- 
stant labor  in  the  sun  by  any  other  tribes  or  colors 
on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  as  it  is  evident  beyond 
all  cavil,  that  the  Africans  are  entirely  useless  in 
this  world  in  any  other  capacity  but  slavery.  And 
they  are  found  to  be  the  only  persons  among  all  the 
tribes  of  earth,  who  can  labor  constantly  and  im- 
prove in  their  moral  and  physical  health  by  having 
good  masters  who  hold  them  for  life  in  those  climes. 
I  say  they  can  toil  in  those  climates  without  the 
least  inconvenience,  and  with  such  great  benefit  to 
themselves,  and  such  vast  profit  and  advantage  to 
the  whole  civilized  world.  I  ask,  would  it  be  right 
8 


26  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

under  these  circumstances  for  those  climates  to  be 
abandoned  that  produce  such  blessings  to  the  world, 
and  be  forever  lost,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  as 
well  as  in  Africa,  when  they  have  proved  a  blessing 
through  African  slavery,  of  such  magnitude  to  the 
world,  and  to  none  more  than  the  African  laborer 
himself.  One  of  the  most  important  points  in  this 
matter  is,  to  show  us  that  children  must  be  respect- 
ful to  their  parents  in  and  under  all  circumstances 
in  this  life.  One  of  the  commandments  says, 
"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother ;  that  thy  days 
may  be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy 
God  giveth  thee." — Ex.  xx.  12.  Disobedience  was 
the  crime  which  produced  all  the  afflictions  known 
in  this  world  since  its  creation,  and  turned  a  glorious 
paradise  of  order  and  beauty  into  one  perpetual  heap 
of  corruption,  confusion,  and  -ruin.  Therefore  other 
laws  equally  strict  become  necessary  for  the  govern- 
ment of  this  fallen  world ;  and  the  one  above  stands 
next  in  importance,  and  equal  to  the  preceding 
ones  of  the  ten  commandments.  And  Ham  and  his 
descendants,  especially  those  through  the  lineage  of 
his  son  Canaan,  are  marks  of  the  displeasure  of  the 
Divine  Being  towards  the  disobedience  of  children 
to  their  parents,  and  they  are  this  day  moving, 
living,  hearing,  and  talking  monuments  of  his  dis- 
pleasure towards  disobedient  children  to  parents.  I 
am  asked  why  I  set  the  Africans  down  as  the  de- 
scendants of  Ham  ?  It  is  evident  from  history,  both 
sacred  and  profane,  that  they  are  the  true  descend- 
ants of  Ham,  through  Canaan.  I  refer  the  reader 
to  Drs.  Clarke,  Benson,  Watson,  and  other  divine 


AFBICAN  SLAVEKY-.  2. 1 

commentators  of  the  highest  standing,  and  all  the 
best  authors  who  have  written  on  the  subject.  The 
sacred  text  is  too  clear  to  be  misunderstood  on  that 
point. 

26th  verse:  "And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of 
Shem;  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant."  27th  verse:  "God 
shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem ; 
and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant." 

These  words  are  so  significant  that  comments  are 
unnecessary  to  prove  that  slavery  was  divinely  au- 
thorized, so  far  as  Canaan  and  his  posterity  were  con- 
cerned. He  had  no  part  in  his  father's  blessings 
given  before  his  death,  only  as  an  underling  or 
subordinate. 

Genesis  xvii.  13  :  "  He  that  is  bora  in  thy  house,  and  he 
that  is  bought  with  thy  money,  must  needs  be  circumcised." 

This  text  shows  that  the  buying  and  selling  of 
human  beings  as  chattels  was  justified  by  law  both 
sacred  and  civil.  This  was  four  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  Noah  pronounced  the  awful  sentence 
against  Canaan.  This  shows  that  Abraham  did  not 
only  hold  slaves,  but  bought  them  for  his  own  use. 
And  the  old  patriarch  expresses  no  misgivings  on 
the  subject  or  moral  question  of  slavery. 

Genesis  xx.  14 :  "  And  Abimelech  took  sheep,  and  oxen, 
and  men-servants,  and  women-servants,  and  gave  them  unto 
Abraham." 

Abraham  did  not  hesitate  to  receive  slaves  as  pre- 
sents at  that  time,  nor  at  any  other  time,  though  pre- 
sented by  a  heathen  as  Abimelech  was.  He  expressed 
no  conscientious  scruples  whatever  about  holding 


28  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

them  as  property,  chattels,  whether  purchased  or  pre- 
sented, and  yet  he  held,  converse  with  angels.  And  they 
gave  him  no  intimation  that  it  was  an  infringement 
on  the  moral  law.  If  slavery  was  sin  against  God  or 
man,  then  angels  must  have  been  very  remiss  in  not 
informing  the  old  patriarch,  out  of  whose  lineage 
the  Son  of  God  was  to  appear,  when  he  stood  alone 
with  them  in  the  mountain  and  in  his  tent.  And 
the  patriarch  was  very  humble  before  the  sacred 
visitors,  and  obedient  to  a  letter ;  yet  no  instruction 
was  given  him  on  the  sin  of  slavery.  Moses,  four 
hundred  and  six  years  subsequent  to  Abraham's 
connection  with  slavery,  held  converse  with  the 
Almighty  himself,  among  the  thunderings  of  the 
mountains,  and  there  received  the  whole  moral  law ; 
and  in  the  17th  verse  of  the  xx.  of  Exodus,  we  have 
the  following : — 

"  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man- 
servant, nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any 
thing  that  is  thy  neighbor's." 

In  the  ten  commandments  the  whole  moral  law 
was  written,  and  slavery  is  mentioned,  as  quoted 
above  from  17th  verse;  and  it  covers  the  entire 
moral  ground  until  this  day.  And  it  stands  in  full 
force,  for  our  Lord  and  his  holy  apostles  brought  the 
whole  Decalogue  forward  into  the  Christian  Dispen- 
sation, and  reiudorsed  the  whole  Decalogue  with  the 
tenth  commandment,  as  above  quoted.  And  in  that 
slavery  is  completely  indorsed  and  sanctioned.  And 
in  all  that  mighty  thundering,  lightning,  and  alarm, 
that  was  to  prepare  Moses  to  receive  the  law,  and 
bow  obedience  to  every  sacred  edict  that  should  be 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  29 

handed  over  for  the  government  of  the  world.  And 
yet  the  Supreme  Being  did  not  utter  one  word 
against  the  institution  of  slavery.  "What  a  pity  the 
Eev.  H.  "W.  Beecher,  Dr.  Cheever,  Wendell  Phillips, 
or  some  other  apostle  of  universal  freedom  and  equal 
rights,  had  not  been  there  to  have  reminded  the 
Almighty  that  his  people  hat!  enslaved  the  Canaan- 
ites, and  that  it  was  an  abomination  in  his  sight,  and 
that  he  must  annul  the  cursed  institution !  What 
troubles  they  would  have  saved,  us  in  the  United 
States !  I  will  refer  the  reader  to  Genesis  xxiv.  the 
latter  part  of  the  2d  and  the  3d  verses,  to  show  you 
that  Abraham  would  not  associate  with  the  descen- 
dants of  Canaan,  because  they  were  an  accursed  race, 
and  Abraham  knew  it.  He  knew  also  that  it  would 
be  inconsistent  with  prudence  and  policy,  as  well  as 
the  design  of  the  divine  Being,  to  have  united  the 
child  of  promise  to  one  of  a  cursed  race,  though  that 
curse  was  only  a  physical  and  a  political  one. 

"  Put,  I  pray  thee,  thy  hand  under  my  thigh ;  And  I  will 
make  thee  swear  by  the  Lord,  the  God  of  heaven,  and  the  God 
of  the  earth,  and  thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  unto  my  son  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  among  whom  I  dwell."  The  4th 
verse :  "  But  thou  shalt  go  unto  my  country,  and  to  my 
kindred,  and  take  a  wife  unto  my  son  Isaac." 

Now,  why  was  Abraham  so  afraid  of  the  Canaan- 
ites? Shem  was  an  own  brother  of  Ham,  the  father 
of  Canaan.  And  on  what  account  was  he  so  parti- 
cular as  to  swear  his  servant  by  one  of  the  most 
binding  oaths,  not  to  take  a  wife  unto  his  son  Isaac 
from  the  Canaanites,  among  whom  he  was  living, 
and  who  he  refused  to  acknowledge  as  his  kin,  but 

3* 


30  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

sent  him  away  into  a  far  country,  to  a  city  called 
Nahor,  in  Mesopotamia,  among  the  descendants  of 
Shem,  to  get  a  wife  for  his  son  ?  Because  he  knew 
the  Canaanites  were  cursed  physically  and  politically, 
and  destined  for  slaves  forever.  Abraham  was  a 
slave-owner  at  this  time.  It  was  slaves  he  sent  in 
pursuit  of  a  wife  for  hie  son. 

Genesis  xvii.  23  :  "And  Abraham  took  Ishmael  his  son,  and 
all  that  were  born  in  his  house,  and  all  that  were  bought  with 
his  money,  every  male  among  the  men  of  Abraham's  house, 
and  circumcised  the  flesh  of  their  foreskin  in  the  self-same  day, 
as  God  had  said  unto  him." 

It  seems  clear  that  God  commanded  Abraham 
in  this  verse  to  circumcise  his  slaves  (for  he  had 
bought  them  with  his  money),  and  yet  that  great  and 
eternal  Being  expresses  no  dissatisfaction  at  the 
institution  of  slavery.  The  abolitionists  say  it  was 
a  different  kind  of  slavery  then  from  what  it  is  now. 
I  would  like  them  tell  how  different,  for  they  were 
bought,  sold,  and  held  as  chattels  just  as  they  are 
now.  But  they  say,  they  were  then  white  men.  I 
have  some  doubt  about  that ;  and  suppose  they  were, 
is  it  any  worse  to  hold  a  negro  in  slavery  than  it  is 
a  white  man  ?  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  but 
that  all  the  race  was  white  until  after  the  confusion 
of  tongues,  at  the  building  of  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
which  was  one  hundred  and  one  years  after  Canaan 
was  cursed ;  and,  until  after  the  dispersion,  I  have 
little  or  no  doubt  that  the  most  of  the  slaves  were 
Canaanites.  We  see  from  Genesis  xxvi.  25,  that 
Isaac  was  also  a  slaveholder.  Look  again  at  Gen- 
esis xxxii.  22,  "  And  he  rose  up  that  night,  and  took 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  31 

his  two  wives,  and  his  two  women-servants."  So  we 
see  that  Jacob  was  a  slaveholder  also.  Pharaoh  was 
a  large  slaveholder,  as  we  see  in  many  places.  Ex. 
ix.  20th  to  34th  verses.  They  seemed  to  be  put  on 
an  equality  with  cattle,  as  they  often  were,  by  even 
the  Israelites.  The  Israelites  were  all  slaves  at  this 
time,  except  Moses  and  Aafbn.  And  how  came  it 
that  such  special  effort  was  made  to. free  them  from 
bondage,  where  they  had  been  for  so  long  a  time, 
and  not  the  slightest  counsel  given  to  free  the  Ca- 
naanites  at  any  time,  or  any  part  of  them  ?  And  no 
prophetic  vision  alludes  to  any  time  or  place  in 
which,  or  at  which  time,  they  are  to  be  free. 

I  will  here  put  forth  a  little  prophecy,  and  I  hope 
it  will  not  be  forgotten.  Whenever  the  abolition- 
ists shall  get  sufficient  power  to  amend  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  and  abolish  slavery, 
our  glory  will  end  as  a  prosperous  nation,  and  we 
shall  be  cursed  from  that  very  hour,  as  the  British, 
French,  and  Spanish  provinces  were  and  are,  by  the 
universal  emancipation  of  their  slaves.  And  not- 
withstanding the  mighty  and  untiring  efforts  of*  the 
British  missionaries  with  the  Bible  and  gold,  the 
slaves  have  already  sunk  quite  as  low  as  they  are  in 
the  interior  of  Africa,  and  nothing  but  the  sight  of 
a  standing  army  prevents  them  from  becoming  as 
barbarous  as  they  were  in  their  native  territory ;  and 
a  standing  army  will  have  ever  to  be  kept  on  their 
account.  And  from  the  very  day  they  are  all  freed 
here,  the  reign  of  terror  will  set  in,  and  a  military 
despotism  will  have  to  be  established  that  will  of 


32  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

necessity  have  to  be  of  greater  magnitude  than  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Look  again  at  Exodus  xxi.  2 :  "If  thou  buy  an 
Hebrew  servant,  six  years  he  shall  serve ;  and  in  the 
seventh  he  shall  go  out  free  for  nothing."  This  pas- 
sage is  often  quoted  by  antislavery  men  in  great  boast, 
because  they  say  it  proves  that  slaves  could  not 
be  held  over  six  years  under  this  law.  It  is  true  so 
far  as  the  Hebrew  slaves  were  concerned ;  and  the 
sacred  Legislator  is  very  particular  to  make  this 
special  provision  for  the  Hebrews,  and  doubtless  be- 
cause they  were  the  heirs  of  promise,  and  had  not  com- 
mitted an  unpardonable  national  or  domestic  sin,  as 
Canaan  had  done;  nor  had  they  been  condemned 
and  sentenced  to  everlasting  slavery. 

Ex.  xxi.  3 :  "If  he  came  in  by  himself,  he  shall  go  out  by 
himself;  if  he  were  married,  then  his  wife  shall  go  out  with 
him. 

4.  If  his  master  have  given  him  a  wife,  and  she  have  borne 
him  sons  or  daughters ;   the  wife  and  her  children  shall  be  her 
master's  and  he  shall  go  out  by  himself. 

5.  And  if  the  servant  shall  plainly  say,  I  love  my  master, 
my  wue,  and  my  children  ;   I  will  not  go  out  free : 

6.  Then  his  master  shall  bring  him  unto  the  judges;  he  shall 
also  bring  him  to  the  dobr,  or  unto  the  door-post ;   and  his 
master  shall  bore  his  ear  through  with  an  awl ;   and  he  shall 
serve  him  for  ever." 

It  is  clear,  from  the  above  passages,  that  the  wife 
given  to  a  Hebrew  slave,  was  a  slave  for  life,  and 
also  her  children,  and,  of  course,  she  was  a  Canaan- 
itish  woman,  or  she  could  not  have  been  held  for  life. 
If  she  had  not  been,  she  and  her  children  could 
have  gone  out  with  the  husband  and  father.  And 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  33 

if  Abraham  had  allowed  his  servant  to  have  taken 
a  wife  to  his  son  Isaac  from  among  the  Canaanites, 
his  children  by  her  would  have  at  least  been  like  the 
Ishmaelites,  and  the  lineage  of  Isaac  would  have 
been  a  curse  to  the  world  the  same  as  the  Ishmael- 
ites, instead  of  being  a  blessing.  And,  no  doubt,  his 
servants,  who  he  sent  out  to  seek  a  wife  for  Isaac, 
were  all  of  the  heathen  around  about ;  in  other  words, 
Canaanites.  Therefore  the  necessity  for  the  strong 
oath  which  was  administered  to  them,  and  the  posi- 
tive charge  not  to  take  a  wife  for  Isaac  from  that 
race,  who  had  been  sentenced  to  perpetual  slavery. 
Had  these  servants  not  have  been  Canaanites,  there 
would  have  been  no  need  of  such  binding  oaths.  But 
from  the  above  text  we  learn  that  a  Hebrew  slave 
could  be  held  for  life  by  his  own  consent,  and  only 
by  his  own  free  consent  and  choice.  And  when  his 
ear  was  once  bored  through,  according  to  law,  his 
condition  was  then  fixed  for  life,  and  he  was  then  a 
bond-servant,  and  was  treated  as  such,  and  not  as  a 
hired  servant,  as  before  that  act,  even  if  his  wife  and 
children  died  the  next  day.  In  Lev.  xix.  20,  we  are 
told  that  if  any  man  have  carnal  intercourse  with  a 
bondmaid,  who  was  betrothed,  she  should  be  scourged 
but  should  not  be  put  to  death  like  the  Hebrew 
women,  because  she  was  not  free,  and  had  no  power 
to  resist ;  clearly  setting  forth  that  she  was  not  her 
own,  and  was  treated  altogether  different  from  the 
Hebrews,  for  the  same  crime.  Lev.  xxii.  10,  hired 
servants  are  spoken  of,  and  we  are  told  in  the  llth 
verse,  a  priest  was  justified  in  purchasing  slaves  with 


34  AFKICAN  SLAVERY. 

his  money,  and  deal  in  human  beings.     Lev.  xxv. 
38th  to  the  55th  inclusive. 

These  17  verses  ought -to  settle  the  whole  ques- 
tion, for  it  is  given  as  the  word  of  the  Lord.  I  will 
give  the  whole  passage  for  the  convenience  of  the 
reader,  and  I  think  it  ought  to  end  all  cavil  among 
Christians.  But  if  it  should  be  twisted  to  mean 
something  else,  I  think  the  doctrines  of  salvation 
by  repentance  and  faith  may  be  twisted  into  some 
other  meaning,  and  the  moral  influence  of  the  whole 
book  of  God  will  turn  to  nought.  Some  professing 
Christians  have  said  to  me,  if  such  declarations 
were  in  the  Bible  as  I  stated  to  them,  they  would 
dash  it  from  their  houses,  as  an  infernal  book.  I 
pity  such  professors,  but  they  must  suffer  the  con- 
sequences of  their  own  fanatical  prejudices.  The 
passage  says : — 

"  38.  I  am  the  Lord  your  God,  which  brought  you  forth  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  give  you  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  to 
be  your  God. 

39.  And  if  thy  brother  that  dwetteth  by  thee  be  waxen  poor, 
and  be  sold  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve  as  a 
bond-servant : 

40.  But  as  an  hired  servant,  and  as  a  sojourner,  he  shall  be 
with  thee,  and  shall  serve  thee  unto  the  year  of  jubilee : 

41.  And  then  shall  he  depart  from  thee,  both  he  and  his 
children  with  him,  and  shall  return  unto  his  own  family,  and 
unto  the  possession  of  his  fathers  shall  he  return. 

42.  For  they  are  my  servants,  which  I  brought  forth  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt :  they  shall  not  be  sold  as  bondmen. 

43.  Thou  shalt  not  rule  over  him  with  rigor,  but  shalt  fear 
thy  God. 

44.  Both  thy  bondmen,  and  thy  bondmaids,  which  thou  shalt 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  So 

have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you,  of 
them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids. 

45.  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  so- 
journ among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  families 
that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your  land :  and  they 
shall  be  your  possession. 

46.  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  chil- 
dren after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession ;  they  shall  be 
your  bondmen  for  ever :  but  over  your  brethren,  the  children 
of  Israel,  ye  shall  not  rule  one  over  another  with  rigor. 

47.  And  if  a  sojourner  or  stranger  wax  rich  by  thee,  and 
thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  him  wax  poor,  and  sell  himself 
unto  the  stranger  or  sojourner  by  thee,  or  to  the  stock  of  the 
stranger's  family: 

48.  After  that  he  is  sold  he  may  be  redeemed  again ;  one  of 
his  brethren  may  redeem  him: 

49.  Either  his  uncle,  or  his  uncle's  son,  may  redeem  him,  or 
any  that  is  nigh  of  kin  unto  him  of  his  family  may  redeem  him, 
or,  if  he  be  able,  he  may  redeem  himself. 

50.  And  he  shall  reckon  with  him  that  bought  him  from  the 
year  that  he  was  sold  to  him  unto  the  year  of  jubilee:  and  the 
price  of  his  sale  shall  be  according  unto  the  number  of  years ; 
according  to  the  time  of  an  hired  servant  shall  it  be  with  him. 

51.  If  there  be  yet  many  years  behind,  according  unto  them 
he  shall  give  again  the  price  of  his  redemption  out  of  the  money 
that  he  was  bought  for. 

52.  And  if  there  remain  but  few  years  unto  the  year  of  jubi- 
lee, then  he  shall  count  with  him,  and  according  unto  his 
years  shall  he  give  him  again  the  price  of  his  redemption. 

53.  And  as  a  yearly  hired  servant  shall  he  be  with  him :  and 
the  other  shall  not  rule  with  rigor  over  him  in  thy  sight. 

54.  And  if  he  be  not  redeemed  in  these  years,  then  he  shall 
go  out  in  the  year  of  jubilee  both  he,  and  his  children  with 
him. 

55.  For  unto  me  the  children  of  Israel  are  servants ;  they 
are  my  servants,  whom  I  brought  forth  out  of  Egypt :  I  am 
the  Lord  your  God." 


36  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

No  sincere  seeker  of  the  truth  will  deny  that  the 
above  quotations  are  the  words  of  the  Lord.  For 
the  38th  says,  /  am  the  Lord  your  God,  the  39th  to 
the  43d  show  us  that  the  descendants  of  Shem  cannot 
be  made  slaves  or  bond-servants,  absolutely,  without 
incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
They  are  in  no  way  adapted  for  bond-servants. 
They  were  not  made  for  slaves,  and  cannot  be  en- 
slaved without  their  own  consent,  and  when  they 
were  taken  and  sold  on  account  of  their  poverty  or 
any  other  cause,  the  master  or  purchaser  is  ordered 
by  God  himself  to  treat  them  as  hired  servants,  and 
they  are  forbid  to  rule  over  them  with  rigor ;  but 
that  they  should  treat  them  as  their  brethren,  because 
they  were  of  the  heirs  of  promise,  and  the  children  of 
Israel,  who  were  their  equals  in  his  sight,  even  if  they 
were  poor.  And  if  one  should  by  chance  fall  into 
the  hands  of  a  stranger  or  heathen,  in  other  words,  a 
Canaanite,  that  may  be  in  their  midst,  every  means 
should  be  used  to  free  him  at  once  if  the  money 
could  be  raised  for  that  purpose.  His  kin  are 
called  upon  to  redeem  him,  but  not  without  paying 
the  full  cost  or  amount  of  purchase  to  this  hea- 
then (I  hope  the  abolitionists  will  notice  this).  Al- 
though it  seemed  to  disturb  even  the  Almighty  for 
one  of  his  redeemed  children  to  be  a  slave  to  one 
who  was  of  the  Canaanites,  and  a  cursed  race,  and 
unlawful  for  them  to  hold  Israelites  as  bond-servants 
for  any  time.  Yet  the  sacred-law  giver  made  it 
imperative  that  the  whole  purchase  money  should  be 
returned  to  this  heathen  master,  after  deducting  the 
earnings  of  the  Hebrew  servants  up  to  the  time  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  37 

his  redemption.  But  in  case  the  money  could  not 
be  raised  to  redeem  him,  he  was  to  go  out  free  at 
the  jubilee ;  which  was  every  fiftieth  year. 

There  is  not  a  more  beautiful  lesson  in  the  whole 
moral  code.  The  Almighty  does  not  sanction  the 
taking  of  any  man's  property  from  him  without 
giving  him  the  value  of  it.  Though  it  was  not  law- 
ful for  a  stranger  to  hold  a  Jew  in  slavery,  yet  he 
had  got  him  honestly,  and  the  just  law  of  God  would 
not  allow  him  to  be  taken  away  from  his  master 
without  returning  his  money  to  him.  (0  abolition- 
ist !  where  wilt  thou  stand  in  the  great  day  of  God  ?) 
These  are  the  laws  of  God,  and  any  individual,  asso- 
ciation, or  nation,  even  in  this  day  of  our  Lord,  will 
be  overthrown,  who  attempts  to  grapple  with  them ; 
and  any  nation  that  shall  sanction  the  holding  of  the 
Caucasians,  Celts,  or  Anglo-Saxons  in  slavery,  with- 
out their  own  free  consent  and  agreement,  are 
grappling  with  the  righteous  laws  of  heaven,  and 
will  ever  be  in  trouble,  for  the  just  judgments  of  the 
Almighty  will  rest  upon  them,  and  a  tyrant  shall 
reign  over  them,  and  uncertainties  shall  surround 
them  day  and  night ;  for  the  white  people  are  the 
descendants  of  God's  people,  whom  he  brought  forth 
out  of  bondage  by  a  mighty  arm.  But  the  holding 
of  slaves  is  fully  sanctioned  by  the  Supreme  Law- 
giver in  the  44th,  45th,  and  46th  verses.  But  they 
were  to  be  of  the  strangers  or  heathen,  who  were 
the  descendants  of  Canaan,  on  whom  the  terrible 
sentence  was  pronounced  eight  hundred  and  fifty-six 
years  before. 

It  is  evident  from  God's  own  words  that  no  part 
4 


38  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

of  the  sentence  had  been,  modified  or  abated  down  to 
that  day — neither  has  it  been  down  to  this  date. 
The  difference  between  a  hired  and  a  bond-servant 
is  fully  set  forth  in  the  quotations  I  have  made  from 
this  chapter. 

This  arrangement  of  God  for  the  government  of 
the  world  is  a  just  one,  and  woe  be  unto  the  church 
or  nation  that  shall  attempt  to  revoke  the  decrees 
that  the  great  I  Am  has  put  his  seal  to.  The  Afri- 
cans are  the  strangers  or  descendants  of  the  heathen 
that  were  around  about ;  they  are  the  Canaanites  who 
are  useful  as  slaves  only.  God  has  so  arranged  the . 
nature  of  the  Canaanites  or  Africans,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  mistakes  made.  The  marks  are  such  that  they 
cannot  be  mistaken,  day  or  night ;  and  the  natural  laws 
that  designate  them  from  the  descendants  of  Shem 
are  unchangeable,  and  God  has  so  made  them  that 
no  mistakes  might  occur.  Therefore,  every  attempt 
to  free  them  and  place  them  on  an  equality  with  the 
people  of  God',  or  the  whites,  must  be  wilful.  And 
whenever  it  shall  be  done  in  this  country,  woe  be 
unto  us,  for  our  glory  will  pass  from  us  as  soon  as  it 
is  done ;  and  every  step  we  take  towards  that  achieve- 
ment is  a  step  towards  the  complete  overthrow  of 
this  national  government,  just  so  sure  as  God  gave 
the  above  laws.  No  white  race  has  ever  yet  taken 
the  Africans  on  an  equality  who  did  not  sink  down 
to  their  level. 

I  shall  say  enough  on  the  incompetency  of  the 
African  race  for  self-government  in  another  chap- 
ter, and  their  level  when  left  to  themselves  with  the 
power  in  their  hands.  In  that  we  can  read  our  doom 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  39 

whenever  universal  emancipation  shall  prevail  in 
this  whole  country ;  and  then  our  steps  cannot  be 
retraced.  The  55th  verse  seems  to  seal  the  law,  and 
shows  clearly  that  the  whole  seventeen  verses  quoted 
were  especially  in  accordance  with  divine  wisdom. 
There  was  very  special  pains  taken  in  this  chapter 
to  show  who  was  lawfully  set  apart  for  bond-servants 
forever,  and  who  were  to  be  their  temporal  masters, 
without  limit;  for  no  time  for  their  freedom  is  men- 
tioned, or  even  intimated,  nor  can  be  inferred. 

The  reasons  are  again  repeated  in  the  last  verse 
why  the  children  of  Israel  should  be  treated  as 
hired  servants  (when  they  were  unfortunate,  and 
fell  victims  to  the  law  of  slavery),  and  not  as  slaves. 
And  they  were,  because  he  (the  Lord)  had  redeemed 
them  from  perpetual  slavery.  They  (Israel)  had 
been  made  long  before  the  children  of  promise,  and 
whose  numbers  should  be  great  that  they  might  be 
a  blessing  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world.  But  the 
Canaanites  had  no  promise  of  a  temporal  redemp- 
tion, neither  have  they  ever  been  redeemed,  nor  they 
will  not  be  in  this  world.  And  every  official  effort 
to  redeem  them,  will  only  make  their  condition 
worse,  for  God  has  set  his  seal  against  it,  and  put 
an  irrevocable  and  a  prohibitory  mark  upon  them 
so  that  they  cannot  be  redeemed ;  and  if  we  attempt 
to  do  it,  we  shall  be  sunk  far  below  the  level  of  our 
southern  slaves,  for  the  Almighty  will  not  allow  us 
to  tamper  with  his  laws  with  impunity. 

In  this  chapter  the  line  is  completely  drawn  be- 
tween the  children  of  promise  and  that  accursed 
race.  Though  the  service  of  the  Hebrews  was  some- 


40  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

times  long  to  the  jubilee  when  they  happened  to  be 
made  slaves,  but  their  redemption  at  the  jubilee 
was  typical  of  the  redemption  from  the  corruptions 
of  the  fall  from  Eden ;  by  the  Son  of  God,  which  is 
a  spiritual  redemption,  and  all  who  will  accept  shall 
be  made  spiritually  free,  whether  bond  or  free;  but 
their  temporal  relations  will  not  be  changed,  yet 
both  will  be  greatly  improved  by  it.  A  heathen 
could  not  be  a  type  of  the  promised  spiritual  re- 
demption by  the  gift  of  God's  only  Son.  But  they 
are  a  type  of  all  who  shall  reject  the  offer  of  spiritual 
salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  whether 
bond  or  free,  black  or  white,  and  no  more  changes 
will  be  made  in  this  world  by  divine  sanction,  and 
jusf  so  far  as  we  attempt  to  grapple  with  the  laws 
of  nature,  and  nature's  God,  we  shall  be  left  to  our- 
selves, and  we  shall  be  cursed  just  in  proportion  to 
our  interference  with  the  laws  of  nature.  Slavery 
did  not  then  bind  a  man's  soul,  and  does  not  now. 
A  real  pious  slave  ought  to  be  the  happiest  person 
on  earth,  for  he  has  no  worldly  cares  to  trouble  him. 
No  matter  if  he  should  have  a  wife  and  twelve 
children,  and  be  sick,  he  has  no  concern  about  them, 
for  he  knows  they  are  fully  provided  for.  And 
they  have  none  of  the  annoyances  or  perplexities 
the  free  people  have,  of  either  color. 

Deut.  v.  14th :  "  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the 
Lord  thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor 
thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  nor  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid- 
servant, nor  thine  ox,  nor  thine  ass,  nor  any  of  thy  cattle,  nor 
thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates ;  that  thy  man-servant 
and  thy  maid-servant  may  rest  as  well  as  thou." 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  41 

This  command  was  given  forty  years  later  to  slave- 
holders, and  none  are  so  especially  mentioned  in  the 
command  or  edict  as  the  slaves,  showing  that  the 
master  had  the  same  power  over  them  that  he  had 
over  all  his  beasts  of  burthen,  and  it  seems  that  the 
last  clause  of  this  article  was  inserted  into  the  moral 
law  for  the  protection  of  the  slaves,  they  having  no 
natural  or  lawful  rights  to  protect  them  from  over- 
burden and  imposition,  and  to  prevent  the  welfare 
of  the  slaves  being  lost  sight  of  by  their  owners, 
and  woe  be  unto  that  master  or  mistress  who  shall 
look  upon  their  servants  as  beasts  of  burden  only, 
especially  under  gospel  dispensation.  If  they  do, 
the  Almighty  will  look  upon  them  as  traitors  to  his 
moral  government,  and  treat  them  as  such  in  the 
great  day  of  reckoning.  They  are  reminded  in  the 
15th  of  the  same  chapter  that  they  were  once  slaves 
in  Egypt. 

21st.  "  Neither  shalt  thou  desire  thy  neighbor's  wife,  neither 
shalt  thou  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  his  field,  or  his  man- 
servant, or  his  maid-servant,  his  ox,  or  his  ass,  or  any  thing 
that  is  thy  neighbor's." 

This  text  differs  slightly  from  the  tenth  command- 
ment ;  in  that  the  field  is  not  mentioned,  and  this  al- 
most complete  repetition  by  the  Sacred  Law-giver 
forty  years  after  writing  the  Decalogue,  shows  clearly 
that  no  change  had  taken  place  in  his  mindon  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery ;  and  eight  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
years  after  Canaan  had  been  sentenced  to  perpetual 
slavery,  so  far  as  moral,  and  civil  law,  written  by 
Moses  goes,  the  moral  question  of  slavery  was  fully 

4* 


42  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

settled.  If  there  had  been  some  Charles  Sumner, 
T.  Stevens,  H.  Beecher,  Dr.  Furnace,  or  any  one  of 
the  apostles  of  abolitionism,  to  have  translated  the 
words  of  the  Lord  to  Moses,  amid  all  that  thunder- 
ing and  lightning  in  the  mountain,  or  to  have  told 
the  King  of  kings  that  he  was  committing  a  great 
and  fatal  error,  what  a  world  of  trouble  they  might 
have  saved  us  if  there  was  any  mistake!  In  the 
14th  of  the  xxi.  of  Deut.  it  is  strongly  inferred  that 
the  Israelites  did  buy  and  sell  human  slaves  as 
chattels,  by  forbidding  a  husband  to  make  merchan- 
dise of  his  own  wife,  though  she  was  a  heathen. 
Deut.  xxiii.  15-16  verses,  seem  to  forbid  the  return 
of  a  slave  to  his  master ;  but  must  have  been  under 
some  peculiar  circumstances ;  and  the  only  circum- 
stance under  which  slaves  .were  forbid  to  be  delivered 
up  to  their  master.  And  I  believe  the  only  passage 
or  text  we  have  on  record,  which  in  any  way  forbids 
an  unconditional  surrender  of  slaves  to  their  legal 
owner.  It  is  the  only  one  at  least  quoted  by  the 
celebrated  abolitionist,  Mrs.  Childs,  of  Mass.,  in  her 
long  letter  to  Mrs.  Senator  Mason,  of  Virginia,  pub- 
lished January  7th,  1860,  in  the  Philadelphia  Ledger. 
She  gave  about  eighteen  passages,  only  two  of  which 
had  any  allusion  to  slavery,  whatever ;  and  among 
them  was  this  passage,  and  the  precept  of  our  Lord 
in  Matthew :  "  Do  as  you  would  be  done  by."  And 
seemed  to  think  she  had  gained  a  great  victory  over 
Mrs.  Senator  Mason.  She  was  careful  not  to  quote 
any  of  the  many  passages'  so  directly  to  the  point. 
Dr.  Adam  Clarke  says  in  his  comment  on  those  two 
verses — 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  43 

"  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  the  servant  which  is  escaped  unto 
thee."  "  That  is,  a  servant  who  left  an  idolatrous  master  that 
he  might  join  himself  to  God  and  to  his  people.  In  any  other 
case,  it  would  have  been  injustice  to  have  harbored  the  run- 
away." 

Dr.  Adam  Clarke  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and 
never  was  in  this  country,  'and  was  looked  upon 
even  by  the  British  government  as  one  of  the  most 
profound  linguists  on  the  earth,  and  by  all  as  a  man 
of  mighty  powers  of  mind,  and  of  the  deepest  piety, 
and  was  esteemed  by  all  good  men  in  both  church 
and  state ;  and,  I  think,  his  opinions  ought  to  be  re- 
spected. Though  he  said,  on  a  passage  in  the  New 
Testament,  something  like  the  following : .  The  pains 
of  hell  are  not  adequate  to  the  crime  of  slavery; 
in  this  declaration  he  must  have  alluded  to  some 
special  act  of  slavery  ;  perhaps  the  slave  trade  that 
was  being  carried  on  by  the  British  government  at 
that  time  on  an  enormous  scale.  For  on  all  other 
passages  he  clearly  shows  that  slavery  was  'fully 
justified  by  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament  Scrip- 
tures. 

The  above  severe  remarks  of  Dr.  Clarke  are  quoted 
by  abolitionists  everywhere ;  but  they  are  very  care- 
ful to  quote  no  other  passage  from  his  extended 
commentary  on  slavery  as  set  forth  in  the  Bible. 
And  the  same  course  is  pursued  about  what  the 
Eev.  John  Wesley  said  on  the  slave  trade,  or  the 
crimes  so  often  committed  in  connection  with  it  by 
cruel  and  hard-hearted  men.  Those  declarations  are 
quoted  everywhere  by  antislavery  men  and  women ; 
but  they  are  very  careful  never  to  allude  to  his 


44  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

having  so  frequently  after  that  baptized  the  children 
of  slaveholders,  and  even  licensed  slaveholders  to 
exhort  in  the  church,  and  admitted  them  to  the 
sacraments  in  the  West  Indies,  and  never  after  he 
visited  the  United  States  of  America,  and  saw  for 
himself  the  condition  of  master  and  slave,  did  he 
utter  one  word  against  receiving  slaveholders  into 
the  Church  of  God. 

It  is  evident  from  the  passage  above,  that  the 
escaped  slaves  were  descendants  of  Shem,  though 
this  text  does  not  say.  But  every  article  in  the  law 
written  prior  and  subsequent  proves  beyond  a  doubt 
that  it  was  Israelites,  who  perhaps  had  been  taken 
in  war  by  the  heathen,  and  then  escaped  and  returned 
to  their  brethren.  Therefore  they  were  not  to  be 
delivered  up.  I  think  the  above  quotations  ought 
and  will  satisfy  every  candid  and  unprejudiced 
mind,  they  all  being  taken  from  the  heads  of  moral 
departments.  I  will  quote  a  few  more  passages, 
however,  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  say  some- 
thing about  the  Ishmaelites,  to  show  that  even  those 
that  mix  blood  with  the  Canaanites  have  never  done 
but  little  or  no  good  in  this  world  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  those  sections  of  the  globe  occupied  by  them 
exclusively — I  mean,  wherever  they  have  the  govern- 
ment in  their  own  '  hands.  It  is  clear  that  the 
African  negroes  are  the  true  and  unadulterated 
descendants  of  Canaan,  and  the  children  of  all  those 
that  intermarried  or  otherwise  mixed  kin  with  them 
are  this  day  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  under  the 
curse  that  was  passed  upon  Canaan  four  thousand 
two  hundred  and  nine  years  ago,  and  perhaps  are 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  45 

colored  just  in  proportion  to  that  mixture  or  kin. 
Benson  said :  "  The  Phoenicians  and  Carthagenians 
are  also  included  in  the  curse  denounced  on  Canaan, 
for  they  descended  from  him,  and  were  both  subdued 
by  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  with  dreadful  destruction, 
and  made  tributary  to  them."  This  was  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty-six  years  after  the  curse  was 
denounced  on  Canaan  by  his  grandfather,  Noah, 
and  after  Abram  and  Sarai  had  left  Egypt  with  all 
their  property,  and  the  presents  given  them  by 
Pharoah,  among  which  were  slaves,  and  perhaps  of 
both  sexes,  and,  no  doubt,  Hagar  was  one  of  them, 
for  she  was  an  Egyptian  slave,  and  doubtless  a 
Canaanite,  for  the  descendants  of  Shem  and  Japheth 
could  not  be  made  slaves  at  pleasure,  and  especially 
those  in  the  lineage  of  Shem.  As  we  have  here- 
tofore shown,  the  Egyptian  slaves  were  bond  slaves, 
while  all  others  were  hired  servants,  or  treated 
as  such,  and  were  not  held  for  life,  except  by  mutual 
agreement. 

Genesis  xvi.  1.  "  Now  Sarai,  Abram's  wife,  bare  him  no 
children :  and  she  had  an  handmaid,  an  Egyptian,  whose  name 
was  Hagar." 

So  we  see  she  was  an  Egyptian  slave,  and  at  that 
time  concubinage  was  tolerated  by  both  civil  and, 
moral  law.  Therefore  Sarai  would  have  had  a  per- 
fect right  to  have  made  an  agreement  with  her 
husband  to  give  her  an  heir  by  some  other  woman. 
But  in  this  case  she  was  doubting  the  promise,  and 
even  if  she  had  not  doubted,  she  had  no  right  to 
have  an  heir  through  a  cursed  race,  and  a  heathen ; 
and  we  see  as  soon  as  this  thing  was  agreed  upon 


46  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

between  Sarai  and  Abraham,  and  Hagar  had  con- 
ceived, that  trouble  set  in  between  Sarai  and  Hagar, 
and  even  between  Sarai  and  Abraham ;  and  the 
consequence  was  Hagar  was  driven  off,  and  she  fled 
to  the  wilderness. 

Gen.  xvi.  7.  "And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  found  her  by  a 
fountain  of  water  in  the  wilderness,  by  the  fountain  in  the  way 
to  Shur. 

8.  And  he  said,  Hagar,  Sarai's  maid,  whence  earnest  thou  ? 
and  whither  wilt  thou  go?    And  she  said,  I  flee  from  the  face 
of  my  mistress  Sarai. 

9.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  Return  to  thy 
mistress,  and  submit  thyself  under  her  hands. 

10.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  I  will  multiply 
thy  seed  exceedingly,  that  it  shall  not  be  numbered  for  multi- 
tude. 

11.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  her,  Behold,  thou 
art  with  child,  and  shalt  bear  a  son,  and  shalt  call  his  name 
Ishmael ;  because  the  Lord  hath  heard  thy  affliction. 

12.  And  he  will  be  a  wild  man ;  his  hand  will  be  against 
every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him ;  and  he  shall 
dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren." 

In  the  first  place  we  are  taught  by  the  angel  of 
God  in  these  passages,  the  right  of  property  in  men 
and  women  as  slaves ;  see  9th  verse.  Now  was  this 
a  divine  or  human  law  ?  If  slavery  be  a  sin  against 
God,  was  not  this  a  befitting  time  to  have  made  it 
known  ?  Here  was  a  messenger  directly  from  the 
throne  of  the  eternal  God;  yet  he  utters  not  one 
word  against  the  institution  of  slavery.  But  tells 
Hagar  to  return  to  her  mistress,  and  to  submit  her- 
self under  her  hands.  The  anti-slavery  man  says 
this  was  under  the  old  law,  when  God  winked  at 
sin.  But  what  law  of  earth  has  God  and  holy 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  47 

angels  ever  been  governed  by?  This  is  simply 
preposterous.  They  say  adultery  and  fornication 
was  then  allowed  as  well  as  slavery — which  are 
forbidden  under  the  new  law.  I  will  show  you  when 
I  get  into  the  New  Testament,  that  the  two  former 
are  positively  forbidden,  and  slavery  allowed,  and 
not  one  word  uttered  against  it  in  any  way.  In  the 
12th  verse  the  angel  told  Hagar  her  child  should  be 
a  wild  man,  "and  his  hand  should  be  against  every 
man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him,"  and  that 
he  should  "dwell  in  the  presence  of  his  brethren. 
It  has  now  been  thirty-seven  hundred  and  seventy 
years  since  the  angel  talked  with  Hagar  as  above; 
.  and  from  thence  unto  the  present  day,  the  descend- 
ants of  Ishmael  have  been  against  every  man,  and 
every  man  has  been  against  them.  And  what  is 
their  present  condition  and  their  location?  We 
find  them  now  located  in  a  section  of  country,  a 
large  territory  which  stretches  from  Aleppo  to  the 
Arabian  Sea,  and  from  Egypt  to  the  Persian  Gulf; 
containing  about  one  million  six  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  square  miles,  where  they  have  dwelt  to- 
gether for  thousands  of  years.  God  himself  has 
sent  them  out  free,  because  they  were  kin  to  the 
children  of  promise,  and  therefore  could  not  be 
made  slaves  of  any  kind,  either  bond  or  hired. 
They  are  divided  into  twelve  tribes  and  are  circum- 
cised, and  marry  among  themselves  same  as  the 
Jews.  They  are  loose  from  all  political  restraint. 
The  wilderness  is  their  habitation,  and  in  a  land 
where  no  other  human  beings  can  live,  they  have 
their  homes,  but  no  fixed  habitations.  They  com- 


48  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

mit  depredations  on  all  the  cities  and  towns  near 
their  borders.  They  are  universally  thieves,  rob- 
bers, and  murderers ;  after  committing  their  depre- 
dation, they  can  retire  into  the  desert  with  such 
precipitancy  that  they  cannot  be  caught.  Their 
fleetness  is  almost  equal  to  the  gray  hound.  The 
Abyssinians,  Persians,  Egyptians,  and  Turks  have 
endeavored  to  subjugate  those  Bedouin  Arabs,  and 
sometimes  they  have  thought  they  were  going  to 
have  full  success,  but  ultimately  all  was  abortive. 
And  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  day  they 
have  maintained  their  independence;  and  they  re- 
main as  living  and  moving  monuments  of  the  truth 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  of  the  disapprobation 
of  God  to  any  mixture  of  blood  with  the  descendant 
of  Canaan.  All,  because  Ham  made  fun  of  his 
father  Noah,  while  prostrated  in  his  tent  beneath  a 
misfortune. 

I  shall  speak  of  the  mulattoes  of  this  country  in 
another  chapter,  and  show  you  that  the  curse  of 
God  is  still  upon  any  mixture  between  the  true  de- 
scendants of  Shem,  and  those  of  Ham  through  the 
lineage  of  Canaan.  I  hope  the  reader  will  examine 
the  xvi.  chapter  of  Gen.,  and  read  Clarke's  views 
on  it.  "What  use  have  those  wild  Arabs  been  to  the 
world  ?  "Where  have  they  done  any  good  ?  "What 
nation,  or  tribe,  or  spot,  on  this  earth  has  been  in 
any  way  benefited  by  them  ?  None,  whatever.  Yet 
they  are  descendants  of  Abraham,  as  well  as  the 
Jews;  but,  unfortunately,  through  a  Canaanitish 
woman '  and  a  cursed  slave.  The  only  benefit  the 
Arabs  have  been,  or  perhaps  ever  will  be,  is  as  a 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  49 

warning  to  all  men  not  to  interfere,  with  divine 
decrees,  and  the  arrangements  of  his  government 
by  which  he  intended  to  govern  the  world.  Abra- 
ham was  severely  punished  by  the  trouble  he 
was  thrown  into  with  Sarai — through  her  slave 
Hagar.  The  pure  descendants  of  Canaan  are  very 
useful  to  the  whole  world  as  slaves,  but  in  no  other 
capacity.  And  slavery  is  as  great  a  blessing  to  the 
African  in  the  United  States  as  Christianity  is  to  a 
heathen,  and  is  so  in  their  native  Africa,  though  to 
a  much  less  extent,  and  altogether  in  a  temporal 
way.  And  whenever  we,  as  a  nation,  which  God 
has  chosen  as  his  agents  and  guardians  to  take  care 
of  a  part  of  those  descendants  of  Ham,  and  to  make 
them  useful  to  him  in  the  world,  and  to  teach  them 
Christianity  and  the  way  of  life  here  and  hereafter, 
shall  set  them  all  at  liberty,  his  curse  will  be  upon 
us  from  that  day  in  which  it  shall  be  done,  and  we 
shall  feel  the  weight  of  his  hand  until  the  end  of 
time,  in  some  way  that  will  destroy  our  peace  and 
happiness,  as  a  nation  and  people ;  and  this  country 
and  nation  that  was  intended  to  be  as  the  ante-cham- 
ber of  heaven,  will  be  thrown  into  confusion,  tu- 
mults and  ruin.  As  I  have  said  much  on  this  point 
in  another  place,  I  will  now  only  ask  what  would 
become  of  us,  if  four  or  five  millions  more  slaves 
were  turned  loose  upon  us,  and  what  would  become 
of  them  ? 

There  was  a  striking   difference  between  hired 

servants  and  bond  servants.     To  oppress  the  former 

was  positively  forbidden,  even  if  they  were  poor  and 

needy.     See  Deut.  xxiv.  14,  15.     And  they  were 

5 


50  AFRICAN  SLAVEBY. 

reminded  that  they  were  bond-servants  in  Egypt, 
see  18th  verse,  as  a  warning  to  them  against  their 
withholding  the  pay  from  hired  servants,  and  there- 
by oppressing  them.  The  descendants  of  Shem, 
though  often  made  slaves  through  poverty  and 
otherwise,  so  far  as  the  law  required  obedience  to 
the  master,  was  the  same  as  bond-servants,  and  so 
far  as  remaining  their  time  out ;  but  they  were  to 
receive  wages  in  some  way,  and  were  to  be  treated 
as  hired  servants  who  went  and  came  at  pleasure ; 
•  but  were  just  as  much  bound  to  serve  their  time  out, 
whatever  that  was,  as  the  bond-servants  were  to 
serve  for  life ;  and  live  on  such  as  his  master  saw 
proper  to  give  him.  In  the  beginning,  while  under 
a  provisional  government,  the  descendants  of  Shem 
or  Japheth,  were  only  allowed  to  serve  six  years,  and 
go  out  free  on  the  seventh,  as  typical  of  the  Sabbath. 
But  under  the  permanent  government,  as  established 
by  Moses,  the  time  was  extended  to  fifty  years ;  that 
is,  they  were  all  set  free  at  the  jubilee  which  was 
every  fiftieth  year ;  that  making  the  whole  time  of 
service  for  those  who  should  happen  to  enter  on  the 
first  day  after  the  jubilee,  forty-nine  years;  and  those 
entering  one  year  after,  would  have  to  serve  forty- 
eight  years ;  and  those  entering  on  the  forty-eighth 
year,  would  have  to  serve  only  one  year  to  the  first 
morning  of  the  year  of  jubilee,  when  all  the  children 
of  promise  went  out  free.  Lev.  xxv.  52,  53,  54,  55. 
Now  the  reason  why  they  were  not  to  be  held  for- 
ever as  bond  or  hired  servants  is  clearly  set  forth  in 
the  55th  verse.  But  what  is  said  of  the  strangers 
that  sojourned  among  them  ?  Lev.  xxv.  45, 46.  "Who 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  51 

were  meant  by  strangers  ?  Were  they  not  heathens, 
or  in  other  words,  the  descendants  of  Ham  through 
Canaan  ?  How  different  were  they  treated !  They 
were  to  be  bought,  sold  and  kept  for  an  inheritance 
for  their  children,  and  to  be  held  as  their  possessions 
forever — to  be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  their  masters, 
and  no  intimations  given  that  they  were  ever  to 
be  free,  and  satisfy  themselves  on  whatever  their 
owners  gave  them,  and  had  no  legal  claim  on  them 
for.  anything  'beyond  that. 

A  wealthy  gentleman,  in  whose  breast  beats  as 
kind  a  heart  as  ever  moved  the  pulse  of  man,  said 
to  me  last  night,  while  talking  on  this  subject, 
in  reply  to  my  views,  that  I  must  not  talk  that  way ; 
that  he  could  not  bear  it,  for  it  would  be  cruel ;  that 
God  was  no  respecter  of  persons.  I  said  to  the 
doctor,  Why,  then,  are  they  black  and  so  repulsive 
in  their  appearance  to  all  our  senses  ?  therefore 
God  must  have  been  a  respecter  of  persons,  so  far  as 
the  physical  nature  of  man  is  concerned.  And  he 
does  respect  man  according  to  his  obedience  to  his 
government,  and  has  done  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  and  will  do  to  the  end  of  time.  Spiritual- 
ly, in  a  general  way,  he  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
and  has  opened  up  a  way  for  the  salvation  of  every 
man,  without  respect  to  color  or  condition.  A  great 
many  men  do  not  seem  to  draw  the  line  between  the 
spiritual  and  temporal  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world. 
If  he  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  how  came  Noah 
and  his  family  to  have  been  admitted  into  the  ark 
and  saved,  and  all  others  left  out  to  perish  ?  How 
came  Lot  and  his  family  to  be  taken  out  of  Sodom 


52  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

by  an  angel  of  God,  and  all  the  Sodomites  left  to 
perish  in  the  flames?  How  came  David  to  be 
chosen  and  anointed,  and  Jonathan  left  out  ?  And 
how  came  the  Africans  to  be  what  they  are  in 
color  and  personal  appearance,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
so  superior  in  color  and  personal  appearance  ?  To 
say  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  physically  and 
temporally,  is  preposterous.  I  know  he  sends  the 
rain  on  the  good  and  bad  alike,  that  the  bad  may 
have  no  excuse;  and  all  are  invited  alike  to  partake 
of  the  waters  of  life,  and  all  can  have  it  alike,  without 
respect  to  color,  tribe,  or  nation ;  and  if  the  Hindoo, 
Chinese,  Indian,  Arab,  African,  or  southern  slave 
will  come  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  give 
him  their  hearts  alike,  he  will  free  them  all  alike 
from  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  they  will  be  free 
indeed ;  and  if  faithful,  the  devil  and  sin  will  have 
no  more  dominion  over  them.  But  it  will  make  no 
difference  in  their  temporal  or  physical  relations 
whatever,  only  so  far  as  they  may  be  improved  in 
principle  and  grace.  But  it  will  make  no  change  in 
the  color  of  the  skin,  the  texture  of  the  hair,  or  the 
odor  of  the  body. 

Thousands  of  abolitionists  speak  of  the  spiritual 
freedom  of  the  Bible,  and  twist  it  into  a  temporal 
freedom,  and  thus  preach  it  from  their  pulpits,  with 
long,  aped  faces,  and  by  that  try  to  make  the  people 
believe  that  they  have  a  large  store  of  pity  for  the 
poor  slave,  that  is  ten  times  as  happy  and  well  off 
as  two-thirds  of  our  white  servant-girls  in  the 
northern  cities ;  and  no  sympathy  is  expressed  for 
them  whatever.  Thus  they  have  adulterated  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 


53 


Gospel  of  God,  and  converted  the  sanctuary  into  a 
den  of  corruption,  deception,  and  slander.  Many 
such  are  ministers  of  Apollyon,  and  not  of  Christ,  and 
are  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the  government 
of  God  and  this  country,  and  deserve  the  gallows  just 
as  much  as  .old  John  Brown  or  any  other  culprit. 
And  we  shall  never  have  peace  in  church  or  state 
until  they  are  hung  or  stopped  in  some  way.  Was 
it  any  worse  for  God  to  curse  the  Canaanites  with 
perpetual  slavery  for  a  sin  of  such  enormity,  than 
it  was  to  curse  the  whole  world,  simply  because 
our  first  parents  lit  a  very  delicious  fruit  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden?  Ham  (and  no  doubt  his  son 
Canaan  joined  with  him,  or  he  would  not  have  been 
selected  to  take  the  curse)  saw  his  father  lying  drunk 
and  naked  in  his  tent,  and  doubtless  the  first  and 
last  time  it  ever  happened,  and  instead  of  covering 
him,  and  trying  to  hide  his  shame  from  the  gaze  of 
the  ungodly,  ran  off  and  told  his  brethren,  as  before 
described.  Every  good  man  will  agree  that  this  was 
a  great  sin,  and  would  have  been,  even  if  Noah  had 
been  a  stranger  to  him ;  and  by  this  curse  only  a 
small  part  of  the  human  family  were  stained,  and 
not  punished  with  corporeal  punishment.  But  was 
the  curse  that  took  hold  upon  Adam  and  the  whole 
human  family  simply  because  he  ate  the  fruit?  No; 
certainly  not. 

Suppose  the  stress  was  laid  on  the  mere  act  of 
the  two,  which  was  the  worst?  I  would  say  that 
Ham's  was  a  thousand  times  more  flagitious  than 
Adam's.  In  Adam's  case  there  was  no  harm  in 
simply  eating  the  apple,  but  in  Ham's  case  there 

5* 


54  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

was  a  flagitiousness  that  excelled  most  all  other 
crimes.  Yet,  for  it,  the  descendants  of  one  branch 
of  his  family  were  made  slaves  forever.  But  what 
was,  and  is,  the  immensity  of  the  curse  that  affected 
the  whole  world,  without  respect  to  persons?  not 
only  to  man,  but  the  beast  of  the  field,  the  fowls  of 
the  air,  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  the  earth,  and  all 
that  grows  thereon.  The  seasons,  the  winds,  the 
seas,  and  even  the  atmosphere  was  poisonous;  all 
fell  under  this  most  terrible  curse.  The  extra  curse 
added  to  Canaan  and  his  family  was  not  a  drop  to 
the  ocean,  compared  to  it.  The  descendants  of  Ca- 
naan was  not  corrupted  any  more  than  what  they 
were  before,  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam.  They 
were  gradually  turned  black,  and  made  slaves.  But 
by  the  transgression  of  Adam,  Ham  committed  this 
great  sin;  the  whole  antediluvian  world  was  de- 
stroyed, and  every  pain  that  afflicts  man,  beast, 
fowl,  or  fish,  was  produced  by  it.  There  would 
have  been  no  winter,  no  storms,  no  burning  sun, 
but  one  perpetual  serene  and  balmy  spring.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  sin  of  Adam,  there  would  have 
been  no  slaves,  labor  would  not  have  been  toil, 
there  would  have  been  no  thorns  or  thistles,  no 
venomous  reptiles,  no  unclean  thing,  or  contending 
parties,  no  misunderstanding,  no  fevers,  no  agues, 
no  pains  of  any  kind,  no  wars,  nor  rumors  of  wars, 
and  above  all,  no  death  would  ever  have  been  known 
in  the  whole  family  of  earth,  and  the  presence  of 
Almighty  God  would  have  been  the  perpetual 
glory  of  man.  But  Adam  disobeyed  God  by  eating 
the  fruit  he  was  told  not  to:  therefore  God  has 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  55 

expressed  his  great  displeasure  to  disobedience  by 
letting  this  terrible  calamity  in  upon  us. 

This  curse  is  an  eternal  on^  it  reaches  beyond 
this  world,  and  to  all  eternity,  unless  we  obey  the 
commandments.  The  special  sin  of  Ham  does  not, 
but  only  reaches  to  the  grave,  there  it  ends.  There- 
fore it  is  only  temporal  and  physical,  and  of  such 
small  moment  that  no  special  or  separate  atonement 
has  been  made  for  its  extirpation  in  this  world ;  no 
amendments  has  been  made  to  the  decree  that 
brought  it  about;  it  not  being  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  the  slaves,  they  hold  the  same  relation' 
to  God  the  white  man  does.  Jesus  Christ  died  to 
atone  for  all  mankind ;  but  does  that  screen  us  from 
the  curse  that  fell  upon  us  (by  the  fall)  in  this  world  ? 
It  does  not,  though  we  may  embrace  the  benefits  of 
the  atonements,  but  we  shall  still  have  all  the  bodily 
afflictions  that  come  into  the  world  by  the  sin  of 
Adam,  and  the  last  one  to  the  Christian  will  be 
death,  and  eternal  damnation  after  death  to  the 
disobedient  and  ungodly. 

This  life  became  a  probation  by  the  fall,  and  the 
slava  is  included  in  this  probation,  with  the  master; 
here  we  all  bear  the  same  relation,  and  all  are  invit- 
ed to  embrace  Christ,  without  any  respect  or  refer- 
ence to  our  temporal  relations.  It  matters  not 
whether  we  are  masters,  bond-servants,  or  hired 
servants,  we  may  all  be  free  in  Christ  Jesus.  And 
God  has  never  called  man  into  his  work  of  the 
ministry  to  interfere  with  those  relations  between 
master  and  slave ;  if  he  has,  he  is  inconsistent  with 
himself;  for  he  nowhere  has  taught  us  any  such 


56  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

doctrines,  either  in  the  Old  or  New  Testament. 
Then  who  has  called  all  those  men  to  the  pulpit  to 
preach  doctrines  indirect  opposition  to  the  inspired 
word  of  God?  If  God  himself  has  done  it,  he  has 
either  changed  or  he  did  not  inspire  the  writers  of 
the  Bible,  and  the  anti-slavery  party  gospel  preach- 
ers declare  it  to  be  inspired,  and  go  into  pulpits  and 
declare  slavery  to  be  a  sin  against  God.  If  that  be 
so,  God  is  the  author,  and  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob, 
Job,  and  David,  were  all  sinners  unto  death,  and  St. 
Paul  was  a  great  sinner,  and  we  have  no  account  of 
his  repentance;  for  he  encouraged  the  relation  of 
master  and  slave  throughout  his  entire  ministry, 
and  should  have  repented.  If  he  did,  it  was  not  put 
on  record  for  our  instruction.  Then  I  ask  again 
who  called  the  anti-slavery  gospel  preachers  into  the 
pulpit  to  proclaim  against  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  decrees  of  the  eternal  God  ? 
But  the  anti-slavery  man  says  that  was  a  decree  of 
an  old  drunken  man  in  his  dotage.  If  that  was  so, 
how  came  the  class  of  men  against  whom  the  decree 
was  made,  to  be  so  affected  by  it,  that  their  skins 
turned  black,  and  their  hair  liko,  black  curled 
bristles?  Old  Noah's  declaration  did  not  amount  to 
anything  towards  affecting  the  thing  decreed ;  it  was 
only  prophetic ;  God  saw  the  crime  of  Ham,  and  de- 
termined to  place  a  warning  in  the  world,  against  a 
repetition.  And  he  only,  had  the  power  to  make  the 
effect  follow  the  cause.  Noah  had  no  more  power 
to  produce  such  a  thing  than  he  had  to  create  a 
world.  Therefore  slavery  is  a  divine  institution. 
Then,  did  God  call  men  and  women  into  the  ministry 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  57 

to  preach  an  antislavery  gospel  ?  I  say  lie  did  not, 
nor  could  not,  without  inconsistency,  if  the  Scriptures 
be  true.  Then  who  did  call  them  ?  None  but  the 
Prince  of  darkness — that  same  devil  who  said  unto 
Eve,  Thou  shalt  not  surely  die.  This  fiend  of  dark- 
ness determined  to  make  war  against  God,  and 
prevent  the  righteousness  of  man,  if  possible,  and  he 
•has  seized  upon  everything  that  he  could  appro- 
priate to  his  use  for  that  purpose ;  and  as  soon  as 
God  saw  fit  to  take  hold  of  the  poor  down-trodden 
African  under  the  heel  of  debauchery,  and  bring  him 
into  usefulness-  for  their  immediate  good,  and  the 
benefit  and  glory  of  all  mankind,  and  as  soon  as  the 
all-wise  Governor  of  the  universe  chose  his  own 
plan,  and  began  to  introduce  them  into  usefulness 
among  his  Christian  people,  Apollyon  commenced 
his  attack  upon  the  institution  that  was  ordained  of 
God  for  the  good  of  his  people ;  but  never  until  the 
year  1620,  when  it  was  introduced  into  countries 
where  he  saw  Christianity  would  be  promulgated, 
and  the  poor  down-trodden  African  would  be  Chris- 
tianized through  the  instrumentality  of  slavery. 
These  Canaanites  had  been  used  as  slaves  and  as 
beasts  of  burthen  for  over  four  thousand  years,  and 
we  have  no  account  of  any  opposition  being  made 
to  it. 

As  long  as  it  existed  among  heathens,  the  Prince 
of  darkness  was  too  cunning  to  make  an  attack  upon 
it,  in  the  time  of  the  inspired  writers,  especially  those 
of  the  New  Testament,  for  it  might  have  been  the 
means  of  bringing  out  some  strong  declarations  that 
might  have  been  recorded.  He  wanted  it  for  some 


68  AFRICAN  SLAVERY, 

future  use,  and  perhaps  feared  the  apostles  would 
frustrate  all  his  designs,  by  warning  masters  and 
slaves  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  him.  The  enemy  of 
God  and  man  knows  well  that  circumstances  make 
the  slave  question  more  exciting  than  any  other. 
And  he  and  his  numerous  followers,  who  are  found 
mingling  in  all  Christian  congregations  and  pulpits, 
know  that  it  is  their  only  scheme  by  which  they  can* 
break  up  this  glorious  and  God-like  government.  If 
the  Scriptures  of  truth  had  forbidden  the  existence 
of  negro  slavery,  no  doubt,  those  preachers  and  the 
devil  would  have  taken  a  strong  stand  for  slavery, 
and  would  have  endeavored  to  establish  it  in  every 
part  of  this  country.  They  are  opposed  to  God  and 
righteousness ;  therefore  their  opposition  to  slavery. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  the  Prince  of  darkness  was 
opposed  to  this  planet's  being  peopled  at  the  time 
we  understand  to  be  the  creation  of  the  world.  It 
might  have  been  created  many  millions  of  years  ago, 
and  perhaps  was  one  of  the  brightest  stars  in  the 
whole  constellation  of  the  heavens  ;  and  perhaps  the 
devil  was  the  chief  ruling  angel,  under  the  great 
central  Power,  and,  it  may  be,  he  had  millions  of 
angels  under  him  who  might  have  acted  as  messen- 
gers to  other  planets,  and  to  the  great  Creator  of 
them  all.  And  it  may  be  that  this  ruling  angel  and 
great  central  power  of  this  planet  concluded  to  set 
up  for  himself,  and  made  it  known  to  all  his  contri- 
butories,  and  called  them  around  him  to  secede  from 
the  great  constellation  of  heaven  (just  as  the  Gover- 
nor of  South  Carolina  did  last  week,  with  his  host 
of  rebels,  and  withdrew  from  this  great 'constellation 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  69 

of  States) ;  and,  perhaps  the  very  moment  the  bill 
passed,  this  planet  was  banished  into  outer  darkness, 
far  outside  of  all  moral  or  optic  light,  and  this 
glorious  star  was  instantly  reduced  to  a  chaotic  state, 
and  all  its  inhabitants  (who  agreed  to  the  ordinance) 
into  devils,  Apollyon  being  king.  And  it  may  have 
floated  about  in  outer  darkness  in  a  state  of  chaos  for 
millions  of  years.  But  at  a  set  time  it  returned  from 
a  state  of  darkness  to  its  place,  a  heap  of  ruins,  with- 
out a  speck  of  light  or  glory.  And  at  the  time  of 
creation,  God  let  in  the  light  upon  it  from  other 
planets,  on  which  it  is  still  dependent  for  light ;  God 
took  it  through  a  process  of  preparation  for  six  days, 
and  put  it  into  a  beautiful  shape,  no  doubt ;  and 
when  done,  God  blessed  it,  and  pronounced  it  good,  and 
then  created  a  new  set  of  beings,  perhaps  somewhat 
different  in  nature  from  those  before  the  rebellion  and 
attempted  secession  (and  for  which  presumption  the 
sudden  transmigration  from  angels  of  light  to  devils 
took  place),  to  dress,  cultivate,  and  beautify  it.  But 
it  being  the  dwelling  place  of  this  enemy  of  God  and 
the  Prince  of  secession,  he  assailed  our  first  parents, 
and  seduced  them  from  their  purity ;  and  therefore 
all  the  corruptions  of  this  poor  fallen  world. 

I  have  no  doubt  this  planet  shone  as  bright  and 
trinkled  as  much  as  any  other  heavenly  body.  Now 
it  is  clear  that  the  Prince  of  Hell  had  no  access  to 
the  hearts  of  our  first  parents,  as  he  now  has  to  us, 
for  he  was  compelled  to  employ  another  who  could 
speak  in  audible  words,  and  in  a  beautiful  and  en- 
ticing manner.  And  no  doubt  it  was  some  animal 
that  was  admired  by  Eve,  and  he  persuaded  her  to 


60  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

taste  the  fruit.  She  found  it  sweet,  and  gave  to  Adam, 
and  induced  him  to  taste.  From  that  moment  the 
devil  has  had  access  to  the  hearts  of  every  living 
creature.;  and  there  is  no  power  that  can  resist  him 
but  the  power  of  the  spirit  of  Almighty  God.  I 
know  this  is  not  all  Bible  doctrine,  for  some  of  it  is 
a  mere  speculation  'of  my  own,  and  therefore  can- 
not be  relied  on,  only  so  far  as  it  is  sustained  by  the 
Bible.  But  any  part  of  it  is  as  clearly  taught  in  the 
Bible,  and  as  much  to  be  relied  upon  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  immorality  of  slavery  as  taught  by  modern 
abolition  gospel  preachers,  and  fully  as  reasonable 
as  it  is  that  African  slavery  as  it  exists  in  the  United 
States  of  North  America  is  in  the  abstract  sinful, 
and  all  such  preachers  are  at  variance  with  the 
decrees  of  the  eternal  God,  and  are  endeavoring  to 
set  at  nought  his  plan  of  civilization  and  evangeliz- 
ing this  world  of  sin.  But  notwithstanding  their 
efforts  under  the  direction  of  their  father,  the  devil, 
whom  they  serve,  this  planet  will  be  redeemed  by 
the  grace  of  God,  through  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ  (and  not  abolition),  from  the  subju- 
gation of  the  devil,  and  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of  God  and  his 
Christ.  And  the  time  will  come  when  Apollyon 
with  all  his  motley  crew  and  abolition  preachers, 
will  be  swept  from  this  planet  over  which  he  has 
ruled  so  long,  and  with  such  tyranny  and  hatred 
into  outer  darkness,  where  there  will  be  weeping, 
wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Where  is  outer 
darkness?  I  suppose  it  is  outside,  and  away 
beyond  all  the  planets,  fixed  stars,  and  systems, 


AFB1CAN  SLAVERY.  61 

where  the  light  of  heaven  will  never  strike  their 
optical  vision,  and  the  powers  of  restraining  grace 
will  never  be  heard  of,  much  less  felt,  to  all  eternity. 
I  have  long  believed  that  according  to  the  attri- 
butes of  Jehovah,  no  spirit  can  be  destroyed,  bad  or 
good,  but  will  exist  somewhere  forever,  yea,  forever  and 
ever,  and  as  this  planet  could  not  be  at  rest  as  long 
as  it  is  his  habitation,  at  a  fixed  time  in  the  mind 
of  God  they  will  be  arraigned  before  the  court  of 
heaven,  with  all  his  followers  and  disobedient, 
whether  human  or  fallen  angels,  all  false  teachers, 
or  .pretended  gospel  preachers,  who  have  added 
doctrines  not  written  in  the  word  of  God,  and 
preached' them  as  very  truth,  or  extracted  therefrom 
what  is  really  written,  in  order  to  give  it  a  different 
meaning,  whether  oa  slavery  or  any  other  question, 
even  of  minor  importance,  will  be  found  guilty  of 
rebellion  and  treason.  All  such  "will  be  banished 
from  the  presence  of  Him  who  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power,"  into  outer 
darkness.  There  can  be  no  darkness  within  the 
Kingdom  of  God  after  this  planet  is  redeemed. 
Therefore  "outer  darkness"  must  be  outside  of  the 
everlasting  range  of  the  government  of  God,  where 
the  softening  sounds  and  melting  appeals  of  "come 
unto  me,  and  be  saved,"  will  never  be  heard,  but 
they  will  be  beyond  the  reach  of  all  good,  even 
beyond  the  power  of  God  to  save.  I  will  add 
another  class  to  Apollyon's  kingdom,  and  the^  are 
those  who  are  everlastingly  interfering  with  a  good 
government  like  ours,  and  finding  fault  with  what  is 
done  by  authority,  and  never  take  one  step  to  try  to 
6 


62  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

cure  the  evils  they  complain  of,  and  see  everybody's 
wrongs  except  their  own,  finding  fault  with  their 
own  church  and  state,  as  though  everybody  in  it 
was  bad  except  themselves,  in  both  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  administrations.  If  there  should  be  any  place 
in  God's  domains  for  any  such,  it  will  be  on  the 
borders,  where  it  may  only  be  a  little  unpleasant. 
I  will  compare  another  principle  of  abolitionism 
with  divine  law. 

Dent.  xxii.  1.  "Thou  shall  not  see  thy  brother's  ox  or  his 
sheep  go  astray,  and  hide  thyself  from  them :  thou  shalt  in 
any  case  bring  them  again  unto  thy  brother. 

2.  And  if  thy  brother  be  not  nigh  unto  thee,  or  if  thou 
know  him  not,  then  thou  shalt  bring  it  unto  thine  own  house, 
and  it  shall  be  with  thee  until  thy  brother  seek  after  it,  and 
thou  shalt  restore  it  to  him  again. 

3.  In  like  manner  shalt  thou  do  with  his  ass ;  and  so  shalt 
thou  do  with  his  raiment ;   and  with  all  lost  things  of  thy 
brother's,  which  he  hath  lost,  and  thou  hast  found,  shalt  thou 
do  likewise :  thou  mayest  not  hide  thyself." 

The  first  verse  teaches  us  that  it  is  our  duty  to 
take  care  of  our  neighbor's  property  if  we  see  it 
wasting,  or  inform  him  where  it  is,  that  he  may 
regain  it.  The  2d  teaches  us  that  if  the  owner 
should  be  far  away,  and  an  entire  stranger,  then  we 
shall  take  his  property  to  our  own  house,  and  keep 
it  until  he  comes  for  it,  and  restore  it  to  him.  The 
3d  verse  teaches  us  that  we  are  to  do  the  same  thing 
with  any  property  or  anything  that  belongs  to  our 
neighbor  or  a  stranger.  The  text  says,  "all  lost 
things  of  thy  brother's  which  he  hath  lost."  Now  was 
slaves  not  a  possession,  or,  in  other  words,  property, 
according  to  both  the  civil  and  moral  law  ?  I  sup- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  63 

pose  no  one  will  pretend  to  say  they  were  not. 
Then  they  were  included  in  "all  lost  things."  Some 
people  will  see  their  neighbor's  property  destroyed 
under  their  feet  and  make  no  effort  to  save  it, 
neither  will  they  inform  him  of  the  fact.  But 
abolitionists  go  m#ch  further  than  that,  for  they 
hide  their  neighbor's  property  that  he  may  lose  it, 
and  they  endeavor  to  get  it  away  from  him,  that  he 
may  not  find  it.  Yes,  they  even  box  up  slaves,  in 
order  to  steal  them  from  their  owners,  that  they 
may  lose  them.  One  good  brother  told  me  he  had 
seventeen  slaves  hid  in  his  garret  at  a  time,  that  the 
anti-slavery  party  .had  run  off  from  their  masters, 
all  of  which  they  conducted  on  to  Canada,  into  a  cold 
climate'  not  suited  to  their  nature.  This  villainous 
practice  has  been  and  still  is  carried  on  by  many 
northern  men  and  women  and  pretended  preachers 
of  the  gospel  from  nearly  every  denomination  of 
professing  Christians.  Now,  I  ask  again,  by  what 
spirit  are  those  men  guided  ?  Can  it  be  the  righte- 
ous and  benevolent  spirit  that  inspired  the  writing 
of  these  three  verses?  I  think  every  candid  man 
will  say  no.  Then  of  what  spirit  are  they  ?  There 
is  but  two  that  can  inspire  men's  hearts,  to  do  bad 
or  good ;  one  is  of  God  and  the  other  of  the  devil. 
Am  I  wrong  in  saying  they  are  of  the  devil  ?  I 
will  say  I  am  right,  or  those  verses  of  Scripture  are 
wrong. 

I  am  told  by  some  that  this  was  under  the  Mo- 
saic dispensation,  and  that  the  Christian  era  brought 
up  a  new  state  of  things.  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to 


64  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

show  you  that  the  only  change  made  in  the  relation 
of  masters  and  slaves,  was,  the  Apostles  taught  the 
slaves  that  they  must  be  obedient  to  their  masters, 
for  in  so  doing  they  served  God.  Some  say 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  the  return  of  fugitive 
slaves  to  their  masters  in  those  days.  That  there 
were  no  slave  catchers  and  that  they  were  not  to  be 
delivered  up  if  they  were  sought  after.  This  is 
like  many  other  things  said  by  anti-slavery  gospel 
preachers. 

I.  Kings  ii.  39.  "  And  it  came  to  pass,  at  the  end  of  throe 
years,  that  two  of  the  servants  of  Shimei  ran  away  unto 
Achish  son  of  Maachah,  king  of  Gath:  and  they  told  Shimei, 
saying,  Behold,  thy  servants  be  in  Gath. 

40.  And  Shimei  arose,  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  went  to 
Gath,  to  Achish,  to  seek  his  servants :  and  Shimei  went,  and 
brought  his  servants  from  Gath."  - 

Here  we  see  the  law  fully  carried  out,  for 
"Shimei"  was  informed  (as  taught  in  Deut.  xxii. 
and  first  three  verses)  of  the  whereabouts  of  his 
slaves.  And  he  went  for  them  and  no  one  attempted 
to  interfere  with  his  rights  to  those  two  slaves,  and 
they  were  delivered  up  to  him,  and  he  brought 
them  to  his  home.  Now  if  the  anti-slavery  gospel 
preacher  will  show  me  one  word  that  condemns 
"  Shimei,"  or  those  who  informed  him,  in  the  whole 
revelation  of  God,  I  will  give  up  that  slavery 
is  a  sin.  I  could  give  many  other  passages 
from  the  Old  Testament  to  show  that  slavery  was 
an  institution  formed  under  the  providence  of 
Almighty  God.  But  I  think  I  have  given  enough 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  65 

to  satisfy  every  believer 'in  the  inspired  word  of  God, 
and  will  now  close  this  chapter  by  saying  that  it  is 
as  clear  to  my  mind  that  slavery  is  the  work  of 
Eternal  wisdom,  and  to  help  make  up  the  machinery 
by  which  God  will  civilize  and  evangelize  this  fallen 
and  sin-stricken  world. 


CHAPTER    II. 

FREEDOM  AND   SLAVERY. 

Does  the  Gospel  Dispensation  condemn  the  relation  of  Master 
and  Slave? 

THE  main  part  of  this  chapter  was  written  in  the 
fall  of  1860,  as  an  article  for  the  New  York  Metho- 
dist, but  was  rejected  by  the  editor  for  reasons  given 
at  the  latter  end  of  the  chapter,  in  the  correspond- 
ence between  the  Eev.  Mr.  Crooks  and  myself,  and 
was  written  before  the  fifth  chapter;  therefore,  I 
shall  leave  out  most  of  the  quotations  from  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  comments  thereon,  with  the 
introductory  remarks  made  to  that  paper.  The  first 
account  we  have  of  the  institution  of  slavery  was 
established  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  years  before  Christ,  by  Divine  decree  and 
acknowledgment,  as  I  think  I  clearly  proved  in  the 
previous  chapter  by  quotations  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  and  I  now  propose  to  show  from  the  New 
Testament  that  slavery  was  not  abolished  under  the 
Gospel  Dispensation,  nor  condemned  by  Christ  or 
any  of  his  apostles,  or  their  disciples.  That  every 
passage  on  the  subject  in  the  latter  endorses  the 
institution,  if  it  does  not  directly  sanction  it. 
(66)  • 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  67 

I  will  say  before  I  enter  into  the  argument,  that  I 
am  a  friend  of  the  negroes,  and  every  principle  in 
me  is  in  favor  of  freedom  and  the  general  good  of 
all  mankind.  And  I  desire  the  happiness  of  the 
negro  race  as  much  as  I  do  any  other  race  or  tribe 
on  the'  earth.  My  opposition  to  emancipation  is  not 
from  a  principle  of  opposition  to  the  freedom  of  the 
black  race,  but  because  I  know  they  are  not  capable 
of  self-government,  and  consequently  better  off  in 
slavery.  And  I  believe  a  free  republican  constitu- 
tional government  and  union  could  not  exist  ten 
years  with  one-sixth  part  of  the  entire  population  of 
the  country  black  African  negroes,  and  the  other 
five-sixth  pure  Anglo-Saxons,  and  that  a  national 
military  despotism  would  have  to  be  established  for 
their  government,  for  two  reasons. 

First.  To  prevent  their  extermination  by  the  white 
people;  for  the  colored  race  would  push  in  for  a 
social  and  political  equality,  and  then  we  should 
have  a  scene  of  blood  such  as  has  never  been  on  the 
globe;  therefore  a  military  government  would  be 
necessary  to  prevent  the  greatest  act  of  barbarism 
on  which  the  sun  ever  shone.  And  under  such  a 
government  there  would  be  infinite  danger  of  "we, 
the  people"  being  reduced  to  a  social  and  political 
equality  with  them,,  against  which  equality  I  noAV 
enter  my  everlasting  protest. 

Secondly.  If  neither  of  the  above  evils  should  take 
place,  and  they  should  be  allowed  to  remain  with 
us  in  peace,  they  would  become  entirely  useless,  and 
sink  down  into  the  lowest  degradation  and  ruin,  as 
they  have  done  in  South  America,  Mexico,  and  the 


68  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

British  West  Indies,  where  they  have  never  been  of 
any  use  to  themselves,  or  any  body  else,  since  their 
emancipation.  On  these  grounds,  I  am  personally 
opposed  to  the  emancipation  of  any  more  slaves  in 
the  United  States,  and  I  believe  it  would  be  a  far 
greater  deed  of  charity  to  the  poor  unfortunate  free 
persons  of  color  in  this  country,  to  reduce  tie  nine- 
tenths  of  them  to  slavery,  than  it  would  be  to  set  the 
slaves  all  free.  Therefore,  even  without  the  clearest 
teachings  of  the  book  of  God,  I  am  opposed  to  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  this  country,  for  the 
good  of  both  races,  especially  that  of  the  negroes. 
And,  when  we  come  to  the  moral  law,  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  negro  race  is  so  clearly  forbidden,  that  I 
dare  not  advocate  their  freedom ;  for  in  that,  I  be- 
lieve, I  should  be  acting  against  the  clearest  teachings 
of  Divine  inspiration ;  consequently,  I  should  afflict 
my  conscience  by  doing  different  from  wl^t  I  now 
do  on  the  slave  question.  If  I  were  entirely  selfish, 
and  cared  nothing  for  my  country,  my  God,  or  future 
generations,  I  should  have  taken  another  course ;  for 
I  had  no  doubt,  four  months  before  the  Presidential 
election,  that  all- other  parties  would  be  enormously 
in  the  minority  to  the  republican  party.  I  was  well 
satisfied  before  the  election,  what  the  result  would 
be  in  case  that  party  succeeded,  as  I  am  now  of  what 
has  taken  place.  And  I  had  feared  from  the  elec- 
tion of  1856,  that  the  Republican  party  would  suc- 
ceed in  1860,  and  that  we  should  have  a  collision 
with  our  southern  brethren,  and  perhaps  an  eternal 
overthrow  of  this  great  and  glorious  Union  would 
be  the  result — ivhich  Union  ivas  my  greatest  earthly 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  69 

admiration,  while,  I  believe,  its  overthrow  would  be 
my  earthly  ruin — that  with  its  end  ended  all  my 
earthly  hopes ;  and  I  felt  that  if  I  had  had  a  thousand 
lives,  I  would  have  given  them  all  rather  than  the 
abolitionists  should  have  got  the  reins  of  the  national 
government  in  their  hands,  for  I  knew  what  they 
intended  to  do;  and  I  as  firmly  believed  that  the 
result  would  be  a  total  breaking  up  of  the  business 
of  the  whole  country,  which  I  declared  to  almost  all 
I  "talked  with. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  knew  my  safest  plan 
would  be,  to  secure  my  bread  (while  we  should  be 
undergoing  the  greatest  revolution  -yet  known  to  the 
world),  to  go  in  with  the  republican  party,  for  I  knew 
none  who  opposed  them,  and  stood  up  for  the  union 
on  the  only  ground  that  there  was  any  possibility  of 
its  being  saved,  would  have  any  patronage  under  the 
government.  But  I  loved  this  great  and  glorious 
government  too  well  to  advocate  what  I  believed 
would  be  its  everlasting  overthrow ;  and  it  was  so 
strange  to  me  that  every  body  else  did  not  see  it 
just  as  I  did,  that  I  almost  lost  all  confidence  in  the 
capabilities  of  man  for  self-government.  A  Christian 
brother  said  to  me  the  other  day,  on  Market  Street, 
that  he  would  like  to  see  me  hung  up  by  the  neck 
to  the  nearest  lamp-post,  and  there  hang  until  I  rot- 
ted, because  I  believe  coercion,  or  an  attempt  to  force 
the  seven  States  back  that  have  now  seceded,  would 
destroy  all  hope  for  a  restoration  of  peace  and  union. 
I  firmly  believe  the  seven  States  can  be  brought  back 
by  peace  measures.  But  coercion  will  drive  several 
others  out,  and  perhaps  throw  us  into  universal 


70  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

anarchy.  Therefore,  I  can  not,  under  these  circum- 
stances, advocate  coercive  measures.  Could  I  do  it, 
I  should  be  far  better  off  than  I  am,  so  far  as  my 
present  bread  and  meat  is  concerned;  but  I  love 
peace  and  the  union  of  the  whole  United  States  too 
well  to  raise  my  puny  arm  against  them,  by  advocating 
coercive  measures.  I  solemnly  declare  the  above  to 
be  rny  clearest  and  most  positive  convictions,  gather- 
ed from  the  teachings'  of  our  Saviour  and  his  holy 
apostles,  and  the  clearest  reasoning  from  a  long  study 
oCthe  history  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  and  of 
human  nature.  I  have  placed  several  pages  of  the 
forepart  of  this -chapter,  as  it  was  originally  written 
for  the  Methodist,  in  the  forepart  of  the  first  chapter. 
I  will  now  proceed  with  my  argument  on  the 
question  of  slavery,  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Modern  abolitionists  tell  us  that  slavery  has 
been  the  cause  of  a  vast  amount  of  evil,  therefore  it 
should  be  abolished.  I  say  slavery  has  not  pro- 
duced any  of  the  evils  we  have  had  or  now  have  in 
our  country.  Neither  did  it  produce  or  cause  the 
John  Brown  Eaid  in  Virginia ;  nor  has  it  produced 
the  ill  feeling  now  existing  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  our  great  and  glorious  country.  But  the 
opposition  to  slavery  has  done  all  the  mischief. 
No  advent  since  the  world  was,  has  been  surrounded 
with  more  evils  than  the  advent  of  our  Lord  and  Sa- 
viour Jesus  Christ.  It  has  been  made  the  occasion  of 
the  shedding  of  more  blood,  perhaps,  than  has  been 
shed  by  any  king  or  potentate  who  has  lived  since 
his  advent  into  the  world.  Now,  tell  me,  was  our 
Lord  the  cause  of  all  the  evils  which  have  followed 


AFiilCAN   SLAVKUV.  71 

riis  appearance  to  redeem  a  fallen  world,  or  was  the 
trouble  produced  by  an  opposition  to  his  mission 
among  men.  I  say  he  was  just  as  much  the  cause 
of  all  those  evils,  as  slavery  has  been  the  cause  of 
the  John  Brown  Eaid  in  Virginia.  And  if  slavery 
was  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble  that  has  surrounded 
er  seemed  to  hang  around  it,  then  our  Lord  must 
have  been  the  cause  of  all  the  wickedness  which  fol- 
lowed Christianity. 

Now  it  is  clear  that  the  evils  which  have  followed 
the  one,  has  been  produced  by  the  same  spirit  of 
wickedness  that  followed  the  other.  Then  if  we 
abolish  the  one,  because  of  the  wickedness  that  was 
brought  out  by  the  opposition  to  it,  through  infi- 
delity and  wicked  men,  then  we  certainly  ought 
to  abolish  Christianity  as  well  as  slavery.  But  who 
will  venture  to  say  that  Christianity  ought  to  be 
abolished,  because  bad  men  and  infidelity  hate  it, 
and  use  every  kind  of  wickedness  to  drive  it  (if  pos- 
sible) from  the  world  ?  If  the  people  of  the  United 
States  was  to  make  a  decree,  that  Christianity  should 
be  driven  out  of  the  country,  because  its  opponents 
make  trouble,  and  howl,  and  fight,  would  you  justify 
such  a  decree  ?  I  think  no  man  would  do  so  foolish 
a  thing.  Marriage  is  one  of  the  most  honorable 
institutions  ever  known  in  the  world,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  ever  bestowed  upon  mankind.  Yet, 
the  most  enormous  evils  has  come  out  of  it,  perhaps 
of  any  other  blessing  that  was  ordained  unto  us  by 
heaven.  Now  I  ask  every  sincere  man  and  woman 
if  marriage  was  the  cause  of  the  wickedness  that 
seemed  to  grow  out  of  it  ?  or  was  it  in  consequence 


72  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

of  the  wickedness  of '  bad  men  ?  Now  must  mar- 
riage be  abolished  simply  because  enormous  evils 
are  practiced  upon  the  ceremony,  and  bad  men  whip 
their  wives,  and  often  murder  them  ?  t 

There  is  a  large  class  of  people  in  the  United 
States  opposed  to  marriages,  who  are  divided  into 
•several  classes,  one  called  the  Shaking  Quakers,  wh<3 
are  otherwise  a  moral  industrious  people.  Another 
large  class  of  religious  fanatics,  who  formerly  called 
themselves  the  Battle  Axe  Christians.  Ar^d  still 
another  class  who  openly  avow  infidelity.  Those 
classes  are  much  larger  now  than  the  Garrisonian 
Abolitionists  were  in  1840.  All  of  those  fanatics  de- 
nounce the  marriage  tie,  as  the  "sum  of  all  villain- 
ies," and  declare  it  to  be  more  righteous  to  put  a  cat 
and  dog  in  a  bag  together,  than  it  is  to  marry  a  man 
to  a  woman.  These  fanatics  have  formed  associations 
all  over  the  free  States  (and  are  on  the  increase),  in 
order  to  abolish  the  marriage  contract.  And  give 
as  their  reason,  that  it  is  slavery  of  one  to  the  other, 
and  therefore  should  be  abolished  from  among  men. 

Now  according  to  the  doctrine  of  all  who  say 
that  slavery  must  be  abolished  because  a  set  of  men 
who  have  no  direct  interest  in  the  institution,  nor 
have  they  the  most  distant  right,  either  civil  or 
moral,  to  interfere  with  it  in  our  Southern  States, 
the  marriage  contract  should  be  abolished  simply 
because  those  religious  fanatics  protest  against  it 
and  say  it  is  a  sin,  or  moral  evil.  They  have  just 
as  good  a  right,  and  good  deal '  better,  for  the  mar- 
riage contract  exists  in  the  States  in  which  they  live. 
But  slavery  does  not  exist  in  any  of  the  States  in 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  73 

which  its  opponents  live,  therefore  the  opponents  of 
marriage  have  a  better  right  to  claim  the  arm  of  the 
government  to  aid  them  to  prevent  the  evils  that 
follow  the  marriage  ceremony,  by  sweeping  it  from 
our  land.  I  could  name  almost  every  good  institu- 
tion in  our  country,  and  show  that  it  is  surrounded 
with  great  evils.  Therefore  should  be  abolished, 
according  to  abolition  notions  of  the  evils  of  slavery. 
I  have  written  -the  above  in  the  place  of  the  pages 
transferred  to  the  previous  chapter,  and  as  an  an- 
swer to  thousands  of  our  most  excellent  men,  who 
say  that  slavery  should  be  abolished,  because  a  cer- 
tain class  of  men  and,  women  in  the  free  States  say 
it  is  a  moral  evil,  and  produces  great  tumults,  harass 
parties  and  Legislatures,  because  the  poor  African 
negroes  are  in  slavery,  and  "we,  the  people,"  are 
not.  When  this  class  of  abolition  zealots  are  mainly 
made  up  of  men  who  never  saw  a  slave  in  slavery, 
and  who  have  no  more  right  to  interfere  with  it  than 
they  have  to  interfere  with  the  serfs  of  Eussia,  or 
the  dark  shades  on  the  face  of  the  moon ;  and  yet 
these  good  men,  who  are  among  our  best  citizens, 
say  slavery  must  be  abolished  if,  by  so  doing,  we  are 
compelled  to  exterminate  the  entire  white  population 
of  the  slave  States,  and  say  it  would  be  preferable  to 
having  those  abolition  fanatics  everlastingly  stirring 
up  strife  and  treason  here  in  the  free  States,  and 
keeping  us  ever  in  dread  and  fear  that  some  terrible 
judgment  will  befall  us,  or  that  we  may  be  com- 
pelled to  put  down  servile  insurrections  in  the  South. 
Now  is  not  this  most  wicked  ?  Could  old  Apollyon 
take  a  more  unrighteous  course — to  go  to  work  and 
7 


74  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

rob  the  slave  States  of  $4,000,000,000  worth  of  pro- 
perty, and  turn  five  millions  of  persons  loose  to  starve 
and  die,  or  prowl  about  in  a  state  of  the  lowest  degra- 
dation, and  be  a  pest  to  society  ?  What  for  ?  Why, 
because  a  set  of  infidels  in  our  midst,  who  hate  God 
and  all  who  love  him,  and  who  make  it  their  busi- 
ness to  disturb  all  peaceful  relations  between  men 
who  have  the  good  of  all  mankind  in  view.  I  wish 
I  had  a  talent  to  set  this  point  before  the  reader  that 
he  might  see  it  in  its  right  and  true  shape.  To  rob 
the  innocent,  righteous,  and  unoffending,  to  satisfy  a 
set  of  traitors  like  Wendell  Phillips,  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  and  J^m.  L.  Garrison,  and  their  thousands  of 
dupes,  is  an  enormity  of  crime  of  such  magnitude, 
that  I  shudder  when  I  think  of  a  sin-avenging  God  ; 
for  woe  be  unto  us  when  we  insult  His  Majesty  with 
impunity. 

Is  slavery  a  moral  evil  according  to  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  did  Christ  or  any  of  his 
apostles  condemn  it,  or  did  they  endorse  and  justify 
it?  I  say  they  did  both  endorse  and  justify  it  in  all 
its  legitimate  forms.  When  the  government  of 
the  United  States  was  adopted,  and  the  Union  there- 
by secured,  twelve  States  out  of  the  thirteen  were 
slave  States.  We  then  had  universal  peace  and  har- 
mony from  centre  to  circumference  of  the  thirteen 
States.  The  slave  clause  in  the  Constitution  was 
adopted  by  a  very  large  majority,  and  also  the  ex- 
tension of  the  slave  trade  for  twenty  years,  passed  by 
a  large  majority;  though  there  was  a  powerful 
opposition  made  to  the  latter  by  Luther  Martin,  of 
Md.,  and  one  or  two  others.  The  whole  country 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  75 

prospered  from  that  day.  The  blessings  of  a  kind 
Providence  rested  upon  the  whole  nation,  and  the 
people  loved  each  other,  and  knew  no  North  nor  no 
South,  and  church  and  state  prospered  alike.  The 
state  looked  to  the  church  for  moral  and  religious 
example,  and  the  church  looked  to  the  state  for  the 
civil  protection  she  might  need.  And  the  blessings 
of  an  all-merciful  Father  seemed  to  rest  upon  all 
alike,  and  we  were  the  happiest  nation  on  whom  the 
sun  ever  shone.  There  was  a  small  fragment  in 
the  Northern  States  who  commenced  an  opposition  to 
the  government  some  three  or  four  years  after  it  was 
formed,  and,  in  a  very  few  years,  infidelity  brought 
every  kind  of  "ism"  to  bear  against  both  church 
and  state ;  but  as  long  as  both  rejected  that 
form  of  infidelity  called  abolition,  they  done  us  no 
harm. 

For  many  years  abolitionists  could  not  even  get  a 
nomination  for  any  office  in  the  nation,  much  less  be 
elected  to  one.  Churches  interrogated  candidates  for 
the  ministry  on  the  question,  and  if  they  were  found 
to  be  abolitionists,  they  were  rejected,  though  in  all 
other  points  unobjectionable.  The  New  York  Con- 
ference rejected  two  candidates  in  (about)  1840  to 
1842,  simply  because  they  were  suspected  of  being 
tainted  with  abolitionism,  when  they  were  in  all 
other  points  unobjectionable.  As  long  as  this  was 
strictly  attended  to,  the  church  and  state  prospered 
unmolested,  though  abolitionism  and  infidelity  howled 
against  both.  Yet  both  prospered  in  spite  of  all  the 
schemes  of  infidelity  and  the  devil,  through  their 
agents,  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips,  and 


76  AFRICAN   SLAVEKV. 

their  sub-agents,  Charles  Sumner,  Henry  "Ward 
Beecher,  Drs.  Cheever,  Furness,  and  others.  But  as 
long  as  those  schemes  of  the  devil  and  abolitionists 
were  openly  avowed  against  church  and  state,  their 
darts  fell  harmless  at  our  feet.  But  they  finally  took 
it  into  their  heads  to  change  their  mode  from  candor 
to  deception,  and  by  so  doing,  they  got  possession  of 
a  large  part  of  the  church,  and  a  strong  hold  in  the 
state.  And  as  soon  as  the  church  and  state  give  way 
for  the  sake  of  their  votes,  and  yielded,  trouble  set  in, 
and  danger  was  perceptible.  It  was  not  long  after 
this  before  churches  began  to  quarrel  and  divide,  and 
statesmen  who  had  always  loved  each  other,  became 
the  bitterest  enemies,  and  soon  began  to  be  sectional 
in  their  feelings  and  speeches,  and  in  a  very  few 
years  churches  elected  the  most  ultra  abolitionists  to 
conduct  their  journals.'  They  (the  churches)  having 
taken  the  first  steps  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

There  was  not  the  slightest  danger  to  church  or 
state  apparent,  when  the  votes  of  those  devils  in- 
carnate was  first  sought  for.  As  seon  as  that  con- 
cession was  made,  the  blessing  of  prosperity,  peace, 
harmony,  and  love  began  to  fade  away.  Just  in  pro- 
portion to  the  encouragement  given  to  this  class  of 
infidelity  by  the  church  and  state,  just  in  that  ratio 
both  have  been  retarded  in  their  peace  and  pros- 
perity. 

In  about  1842  many  thousand  seceded  from  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  New  England, 
because  slaveholders  were  allowed  to  commune  in 
the  southern  branch  of  the  church,  whose  leaders 
were  Scott,  Sunderland  &  Co.  It  would  not  be  hard 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  77 

to  prove,  that  those  leaders  were  bad  men  before 
they  left  the  church,  and  perhaps  joined  it  for  the 
very  purpose  of  trying  to  split  and  ruin  it.  Very 
soon  after  they  withdrew,  the  most  of  the  leaders 
went  to  ruin  (I  mean  the  preachers),  for  some  of  them 
took  to  hard  drink,  and  others  to  fortune  telling, 
some  to  Spiritualism,  and  others  to  Animal  Magnet- 
ism, Millerism,  Mormonism,  and  every  other  kind 
of  ism ;  all  this  because  they  had  become  so  holy 
and  pure  that  they  could  no  longer  remain  in  a 
communion  that  slaveholders  were  admitted  to, 
though  a  thousand  miles  from  them.  Notwithstand- 
ing their  great  conscientious  scruples  about  slavery, 
they  went  headlong  into  all  those  blackening  inven- 
tions of  the  devil  for  a  livelihood,  which  I  think  is 
as  near  Apollyon's  Kingdom  as  can  be  reached  in 
this  world.  So  the  leaders  mostly  exposed  their 
cloven  feet  before  they  died. 

What  became  of  the  twenty  thousand  laymen, 
I  am  asked,  that  followed  them  ?  I  know  not.  but 
it  is  to  be  feared  they  went  about  the  same  road. 
It  is  only  necessary  for  us  to  look  at  the  prosperous 
condition  of  the  whole  nation  as  well  as  the  church 
before  abolitionism  became  popular  in  them,  and 
look  at  them  since  it  succeeded  to  power,  to  know 
what  spirit  they  are  of.  Look  at  our  condition  now, 
since  abolitionism  got  the  ascendency.  Look  at  the 
divisions,  the  tumults,  the  hard  words,  the  curses, 
and  see  the  blood  that  has  been  shed,  and  the  scaf- 
folds that  have  been  erected  to  hang  men  and  women 
from,  and  assassinations  in  almost  every  form.  See 
the  ruin  to  business  of  every  grade,  and  perhaps 

7* 


78  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

five  hundred  million  dollars  would  not  pay  the  loss 
produced  by  the  opposition  to  slavery  in  this  coun- 
try. There  is  not  an  infidel  association  that  I  know 
of  who  are  not  abolitionist,  and  who  declare  the 
Bible  to  be  an  infernal  book,  because  it  endorses  or 
sanctions  slavery.  And  they  seize  upon  the  slave 
question  to  strengthen  their  opposition  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  And  now  the  strong  and  bitter  feelings 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  that  no  doubt  will 
result  in  a  clash  of  arms,  and  perhaps  will  be  one  of 
the  greatest  civil  strifes  ever  known  on  the  face^  of 
the  earth,  and  perhaps  the  slaughter  of  millions 
of  our  race,  and  ultimately  the  total  extermination 
of  the  entire  black  population  of  this  whole  country, 
or  the  driving  of  them  from  among  us,  who  have 
had  no  hand  in  making  this  trouble.  Those  of  that 
race  who  have  the  name  of  freedom  are  in  the  great- 
est danger.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  details, 
for  every  man  and  woman  of  the  slightest  observa- 
tion ought  to  know  the  history,  and  see  the  catastro- 
phy  just  before  us,  and  unless  God  in  his  mercy 
•shall  interfere  in  behalf  of  "We,  the  people,"  we  shall 
be  dashed  to  pieces  as  a  nation  upon  the  rocks  of 
a  universal  despotism  or  anarchy  that  will  make  us 
quail  with  fear  and  pain. 

I  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  1827. 
At  that  time  the  slave  and  free  States  were  a  unit  in 
church  as  well  as  state;  with  the  exception  of  a 
handful  of  abolitionists  in  the  free  States,  there  was 
no  sectional  quarrels,  all  was  love,  peace,  harmony, 
and  union,  between  the  two  extremes  of  our  beloved 
country.  And  so  it  would  be  now  had  no  concessions 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  79 

ever  been  made  to  infidelity  through  Garrisonian 
abolitionism.  This  class  of  infidelity  had  gained  so 
fast  after  its  admission  into  official  stations  in  the 
church;  that  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844, 
Bishop  Andrews,  of  Georgia,  one  of  the  most 
respected,  and  devoted  bishops  of  our  (then)  great 
and  powerful  Christian  Church,  was  suspended, 
simply  for  having  married  a  lady  who  had'  fell  heir, 
or  by  will,  to  some  two  or  three  little  negro  chil- 
dren. What  has  been  the  result  of  that  fatal  act  of 
that  most  unfortunate  conference  is  now  before  us, 
and  all  can  realize  it.  It  was  the  first  step  for  a 
dissolution  of  this  great  and  glorious  union.  That 
step  divided  this  great  body  of  Christians  nearly  on 
the  geographical  line,  called  Mason's  and  Dixon's. 
The  following  year,  our  Baptist  brethren,  the  next 
most  powerful  church,  followed  the  example  set  by 
our  church,  dividing  about  on  the  same  line  as  her 
leaders  did.  Some  time  subsequent  the  New  School 
Presbyterian  separated  on  about  the  same  line. 
While  other  congregational  churches  who  had  no 
general  form  of  church  government  have  not  ceased- 
to  say  hard  things  of  our  Southern  brethren  because 
they  allowed  slaveholders  in  their  communions,  and 
have  done  great  service  in  the  fatal  cause  of  destruc- 
tion to  the  last,  and  perhaps  the  only  hope  of  man 
for  liberty  and  self-government. 

The  Old  School  Presbyterian  Church  has  now 
virtually  divided,  and  the  only  ligament  which  has 
not  been  officially  severed,  is  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  which  is  now  our  only  hope  for  liberty 
and  union.  If  that  fails  we  are  without  hope  in 


80  AFBICAX  SLAVERY. 

this  country.  These  churches  have  not  only  divided, 
but  are  being  subdivided,  and  all  brotherly  inter- 
course between  members  of  the  same  church  seems 
to  be  lost  sight  of,  while  they  denounce  each  other 
like  fiends,  one  asserting  that  the  negro  is  as  good 
as  the  white  man  and  ought  to  be  made  his  equal, 
and  others  dissenting.  Ministers  seem  to  have  en- 
tirely forgotten  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  given  them 
by  their  Great  Progenitor,  who  told  them  to  use  it, 
and  no  other,  which  is  love  to  God  and  to  all  man- 
kind. And  they  have  now  unsheathed  a  sword  of 
steel,  or  the  temporal  sword,  and  go  into  pulpits  and 
recommend  it  to  all  their  members.  No  prayers 
are  allowed  to  be  offered  for  our  sectional  enemies, 
no  love  to  be  tendered  them  which  was  the  only 
spirit  and  foundation  of  the  union.  But  Sharp's 
rifles,  cannon  balls,  and  the  temporal  sword  contains 
all  the  gospel  of  love  they  seem  to  recommend  to 
those  we  have  first  made  mad.  How  sweet  it  would 
be  to  find  a  communion  where  none  but  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God  was  used.  I  well 
remember  when  we  had  such  communions;  but  not 
since  abolitionists  were  admitted,  and  called  brothers. 
Then  our  peace,  union,  and  love,  among  our  Christian 
brethren  was  unmitigated.  But  alas !  how  is  it  to- 
day ?  How  do  we  now  greet  each  other?  "With 
curses,  denunciations,  and  threats.  .What  has  done 
all  of  this  mischief?  Opposition  to  God's  own 
arrangement  for  the  government  of  the  world.  But 
wo  be  unto  us,  if  we  lift  our  arm  against  his  de- 
crees. 

This   rebellion  has  already  produced  animosities 


AFRICAN  SLAVBBY.  81 

between  brethren  who  loved  each  other  with  Chris- 
tian forbearance,  that  is  painful.  But  we  have  reason 
to  fear  that  all  our  happy  and  peaceful  days  as  a 
nation  and  church  are  past  forever.  One  of  our 
most  popular  young  preachers,  preached  a  sermon 
the  other  Sunday  morning,  in  one  of  our  popular 
churches,  against  slavery,  that  produced  disputes, 
quarrels,  and  bad  feelings  which  may  never  be 
erased  in  this  life.  Thousands  have  left  the  church 
in  consequence  of  the  agitation  of  negro  slavery  in 
them,  and  perhaps  will  be  forever  lost  to  the  church ; 
and  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will  lose  their  preparation 
for  the  Kingdom  above.  It  is  to  be  feared  also,  that 
many  ministers  and  laymen  have  committed  blas- 
phemy against  the  Throne  of  heaven ;  especially 
since  old  John  Brown  and  his  co-associates  were 
executed  at  Charlestown,  Va.  Ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel have  proclaimed  from  the  sacred  desk,  that 
(that  old  murderer  and  traitor"]  John  Brown  was  the 
second  Jesus  Christ;  others,  that  the  gallows  was 
sanctified  and  made  precious  as  the  cross  of  our  Sa- 
viour by  his  execution  thereon;  and  others  have 
said  the  horrors  of  the  gallows  were  entirely  re- 
moved, and  now  it  was  a  desirable  death  to  die.  At 
similar  declarations  made  in  this  city,  at  one  of  our 
large  halls,  it  is  said,  by  good  men,  that  some  lay- 
men and  ministers  responded  with  a  solemn  and 
hearty  amen.  They  were  ministers  who  draw  very 
large  crowds  to  hear  them  preach  treason  to  the 
laws  of  heaven  and  earth.  These  are  the  true  and 
certain  effects  of  ministerial  religious  and  political 
opposition  to  lawful  negro  slavery. 


82  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

If  I  were  to  attempt  to  enumerate  all  the  evils 
growing  out  of  the  opposition  to  African  slavery  in 
this  country,  it  would  make  a  very  large  book ;  and 
none  have  suffered  more  than  the  poor  slaves  them- 
selves. There  are  evils  growing  out  of  the  system  of 
slavery,  I  know ;  but  is  that  any  evidence  that  the 
system  is  a  moral  evil  ?  If  it  is,  then  every  good  thing 
we  have,  or  ever  had,  is  a  moral  evil — even  Chris- 
tianity, as  I  have  already  shown,  for  the  devil  has 
never  ceased  to  try  to  bring  all  the  bad  out  of  good  he 
could.  And  will  any  one  undertake  to  say  that  he 
has  not  succeeded  to  an  alarming  extent  ?  Yet,  not- 
withstanding all  the  combined  efforts  of  infidelity  and 
the  devil,  had  it  not  been  for  the  offer  and  free  gift 
of  Christianity,  we  should  now  be  in  a  far  worse  con- 
dition than  the  natives  of  Africa  ever  were.  And 
we  are  indebted  to  Christianity  for  all  the  benefits 
we  ever  had,  whether  civil  or  moral.  And  all  the 
civilization  that  has  been-  since  the  world  was,  was 
the  legitimate  result  of  Christianity.  Yet  infidelity 
and  abolitionists  say  Christianity  must  be  abolished, 
because  evils  have  resulted  from  its  advent.  Many 
leading  antislavery  men  have  dashed  the  Bible  from 
their  tables  because  it  sanctions  slavery. 

If  slavery  be  a  moral  evil,  it  ought  to  be  abolished, 
provided  it  can  be  done  without  producing  a  greater 
one.  But  is  slavery  a  moral  evil  ?  .  If  so,  it  was  en- 
dorsed by  all  the  actors  and  inspired  writers  of  the 
Holy  Bible,  from  Noah  to  St.  Paul,  the  Son  of  God 
not  excepted.  The  evidence  of  this  I  have  already 
given  from  the  Mosaic  dispensation  in  the  previous 
chapter.  But  I  will  refer  again  to  Exodus  xx.  17. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  83 

"Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou 
shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-ser- 
vant, nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass, 
nor  anything  that  is  thy  neighbor's."  If  property 
in  men  and  women  is  not  recognized  in  this,  the  tenth 
commandment,  and  fully  sanctioned  by  the  inspired 
penman,  then  houses  nor  cattle  cannot  be  claimed  as 
property,  and  man  has  no  moral  claim  to  anything 
he  possesses,  and  he  is  sinning  against  light  by  not  dis- 
charging it.  Let  us  look  at  and  examine  it  until  we 
fully  understand  it,  for  an  awful  responsibility  rests 
upon  us ;  for  upon  our  decision  may  rest  our  liber- 
ties, our  peace,  and  happiness  through  all  time  to 
come.  After  we  have  thoroughly  investigated  it, 
and  find  slavery  to  be  a  moral  evil,  then  we  must 
blot  out  the  Decalogue  or  ten  commandments,  or 
charge  the  Supreme  Being  with  the  authorship  of  a 
moral  evil.  Slavery  may  be  looked  upon  as  a 
greater  missionary  movement  to  evangelize  the 
heathen  than  all  the  missionary  movements  of  the 
Christian  churches.  Let  no  man  forbid  the  holding 
of  slaves  until  he  can  prove  by  holy  writ  that  slavery 
is  a  sin  against  the  moral  law ;  fear  lest  he  should 
oppose  one  of  the  great  divine  schemes  of  evangel- 
ization. Abraham,  the  friend  of  God,  and  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  a  great  and  good  man,  was  command- 
ed by  the  eternal  to  "circumcise  the  servants  born 
in  his  house,  and  bought  with  his  money."  Genesis 
xvii/13.  Yet  in  all  this  there  is  not  the  slightest 
command  or  intimation  given  against  the  institution 
of  slavery,  or  that  it  was  a  moral  evil,  or  in  any  way 
displeasing  to  the  Almighty. 


84  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

There  are  many  other  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  a  great  many  in  the  New,  that  fully 
endorse  the  holding  of  men  and  woman  as  property 
(of  a  particular  race),  but  no  others,  except  for  crime, 
or  by  their  own  free  consent.  The  Roman  centurian, 
whose  faith  Jesus  commended  as  follows :  "  I  have 
not  found  so  great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel,"  Matt.  viii. 
5-13,  was  a  large  slaveholder.  Yet  his  faith  was 
commended  by  our  Lord,  as  being  superior  to  any 
he  had  found.  But  not  one  word  uttered  against 
that  institution  (or  that  it  was  a  moral  evil),  or  in 
any  way  displeasing  to  God,  much  less  to  the  centu- 
rian being  the  master  of  so  many  slaves,  who  were 
accredited  to  him  as  his  own  property.  The  Roman 
law  invested  the  master  with  power  of  life  and  death 
over  h;s  servants.  And  the  fact  that  the  centurian 
held  slaves  under  this  law,  did  not  in  the  least,  in 
the  estimation  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  render  him 
unworthy  of  the  high  commendation  bestowed  on 
him  by  Christ,  and  recorded  for  our  instruction.  If 
slavery  is  a  sin,  then  our  Lord  neglected  his  duty  in 
this  case,  and  thereby  became  accessory  to  the  crime. 
He  could  so  easily  have  said  to  him  that  he  was  a 
sinner  by  owning  slaves,  instead  of  bestowing  so 
high  a  commendation  upon  him.  And  it  was  such 
a  fit  time  for  him  to  have  warned  others  against  this 
(alleged)  crime,  by  telling  him  that  no  slaveholder 
should  enter  tlie  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  But  not  one 
word  of  the  kind. 

As  the  sons  of  Adam  are  bound  to  submit  patiently 
to  the  decree  that  binds  them  to  earn  their  living  by 
the  sweat  of  their  brows,  so  also  must  the  sons  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVBKY.  85 

Ham,  through  his  son  Canaan,  submit  to 'their  fate. 
The  wise  and  benevolent  friends  of  the  African  race 
may  learn  from  the  prophetical  curse  passed  by 
Noah,  that  slavery  is  a  part  of  the  mysterious  plan, 
according  to  which  God  is  governing  the  world,  and 
they  should  be  careful  for  fear  they  should  be  found 
opposing  God. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  yet  another,  and  even  a 
stronger  argument  for  the  lawfulness  of  slavery. 
In  the  fact  that  they  instruct  masters  how  to  exer- 
cise authority  over  their  slaves. 

Eph.  vi'.  5.  "  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that  are  your 
masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling,  in 
singleness  of  your  heart,  as  unto  Christ. 

6.  Not  with  eye-service,  as  men-plcasers  ;  but  as  the  servants 
of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  God  from  the  heart ; 

7.  With  good-will  doing  service,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not 
men; 

8.  Knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the 
same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free. 

9.  And  ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  unto  them,  forbear- 
ing threatening  :  knowing  that  your  Master  also  is  in  heaven ; 
neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with  him." 

If  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  be  unlawful 
and  sinful,  then  the  relation  of  parents  and  children 
must  be  the  same,  for  both  are  exhorted  alike  to 
obedience.  Except  Paul  said  more  to  slaves,  know- 
ing there  was  more  danger  of  their  being  neglectful 
of  their  duty  to  masters,  and  the  danger  of  masters 
forgetting  their  duty  to  slaves,  and  to  impress  the 
minds  of  the  slaves  so  deeply,  that  they  might  not 
think  they  had  the  right  to  waste  their  time  which 
8 


86  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

belonged  exclusively  to  their  masters,  and  not  to 
themselves,  and  that  they  should  love  and  respect 
them. 

If  slavery  be  a  moral  evil,  why  was  Paul  so 
particular  in  insisting  upon  those  duties  to  each 
other,  without  giving  the  slightest  intimation  that 
slavery  was  wrong,  or  in  any  way  objectionable  to 
Christianity?  But  St.  Paul  seemed  to  make  so 
much  greater  effort  to  impress  his  precept  upon  the 
minds  of  the  slaves,  than  any  others  he  named  in 
those  verses;  there  must  have  been  some  special 
reasons  for  it.  Does  it  not  look  as  though  he  had 
his  prophetic  eye  cast  forward  to  the  present  times  ? 
Those  precepts  stand  in  as  full  force  to-day  as  they 
did  when  he  uttered  them.  I  am  told  by  the  anti- 
slavery  party,  that  Paul  was  speaking  to  servants, 
and  not  to  slaves.  I  have  shown  already  in  a  former 
chapter  that  whenever  the  hired  servants  were 
spoken  of,  they  were  speaking  of  Israelites,  and 
not  Canaanites,  and  whether  they  were  bought  for 
a  term  of  years  or  for  life,  their  master  had  the 
same  unconditional  control  over  them.  But  what 
does  Paul  mean  in  the  Litter  clause  of  the  8th  verse 
when  he  says,  "whether  they  be  bond  or  free?" 
Are  not  two  distinct  classes  of  servants  alluded  to? 
Who  does  he  mean  by  bond-servants  ?  I  hope  the 
reader  will  examine  Webster,  Walker,  Baily,  Reid, 
or  any  other  lexicographer  known  in  the  world,  on 
the  word  bond-servant,  bond-slave,  bond -man,  and 
bond-maid.  And  then  ask  yourself  the  question, 
why  all  the  inspired  writers  were  so  particular  in 
designating  between  a  hired  servant  and  a  bond- 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  87 

servant.  Was  it  not  to  instruct  us  that  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  was  lawful  in  the  sight  of  God  ? 
A  gentleman  said  to  me  this  morning,  that  servant 
always  meant  a  hireling.  I  refer  him,  and  all  others 
who  thus  believe,  to  the  quotations  from  Lev.  xxv. 
if  Webster  and  all  lexicographers  fail  to  satisfy 
them.  For  to  argue  such  a  question  would  look  too 
simple  for  even  children  to  cavil  over.  The  text 
needs  no  comment. 

Col.  iii.  18.  "  Wives,  submit  yourselves  unto  your  own  hus- 
bands, as  it  is  fit  in  the  Lord. 

19.  Husbands,  love  your  wives,  and  be  not  bitter  against 
them. 

20.  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  all  things  :  for  this  is  well 
pleasing  unto  the  Lord. 

21.  Fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  anger,  lest  they 
be  discouraged. 

22.  Servants,  obey  in  all  things  your  masters  according  to 
the  flesh ;  not  with  eye-service,  as  men-pleasers ;  but  in  sin- 
gleness of  heart,  fearing  God  : 

23.  And  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord  and 
not  unto  men." 

Col.  iv.  1.  "  Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is 
just  and  equal ;  knowing  that  ye  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven." 

This  is  nearly  a  repetition  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Eph.  And  therefore  adds  more  strongly  to  the 
testimony  that  slavery  was,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
as  just  a  judgment  upon  the  descendants  of  Ham 
,ras  the  afflictions  of  the  whole  human  family  are  for 
Adam's  transgression.  If  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave  be  a  moral  evil,  St.  Paul  could  not  have 
been  an  inspired  Apostle.  For  he  treats  the  rela- 
tion of  master  and  slave,  husband  and  wife,  parents 
and  children,  precisely  the  same,  except  as  I  said 


88  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

before,  he  was  far  more  impressive  in  liis  injunctions 
to  slaves.  If  they  were  not  equally  lawful  in  the 
sight  of  God,  Paul's  name  ought  to  be  stricken  from 
the  New  Testament,  and  not  stand  as  an  inspired 
Apostle.  But  as  I  can  see  nothing  criminal  or  sin- 
ful in  the  decree  under  Noah,  I  shall  still  look  up 
to  the  Apostle  Paul  as  God's  greatest  ambassador 
and  favored  friend,  and  believe  I  am  just  as  much 
forbid  to  interfere  with  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave,  as  husband  and  wife. 

I  hope  every  master  will  read  the  first  verse  of 
the  iv.  of  Col.  with  special  attention,  for  it  was 
written  for  him.  He  must  not  oppress  his  slaves 
with  harshness  and  bitterness.  Their  earnings  be- 
long to  him,  for  which  he  is  bound  by  this  precept 
to  give  them  enough  good  wholesome  food,  com- 
fortable clothing,  and  not  to  put  more  on  them  than 
they  can  comfortably  bear.  In  short,  he  must  do 
to  them  as  he  would  have  them  do  to  him,  if  cir- 
cumstances between  them  were  completely  reversed. 
They  are  held  responsible  to  the  moral  law,  and 
if  they  neglect  their  duty  in  this  thing,  God  will 
judge  them  in  justice  and  truth. 

But  the  22-23d  verses  of  the  iii.  chapter  rivets 
the  slave's  duty  to  his  master  so  particularly,  that  it 
cannot  be  misunderstood  or  misapplied.  While 
the  masters  are  reminded  that  they  have  a  Master  in 
heaven  who  will  render  them  their  just  reward  for 
their  conduct  to  their  slaves,  the  servants  are 
commanded  in  all  things  to  obey  their  masters,  and 
told  that  they  must  do  it  as  unto  God,  "  not  with  eye- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  89 

service,  as  men-pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart, 
fearing  God." 

If  slavery  be  a  moral  evil,  St.  Paul  was  a  bad  man, 
and  endeavored  to  deceive  the  people.  But  if  the 
Scriptures  be  the  word  of  God,  and  written  by  in- 
spiration, then  slavery  is  as  much  a  divine  institu- 
tion as  labor  and  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  of  the 
earth.  For  Noah  said,  "  Cursed  be  Canaan,  a  ser- 
vant of  servants  shall  he  be  to  his  brethren."  God 
said  to  Adam,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou 
eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground,"  &c. 
The  decree  against  Adam  was  pronounced  by  the 
great  "/  Am,"  and  has  been  executed  to  the  strictest 
letter,  upon  all  his  descendants  without  one  excep- 
tion ;  and  no  one  can  deny  it.  Noah  was  the  grand 
patriarch  under  God,  and  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  whole  human  family,  who  held  so  near  a  place 
to  the  heart  of  the  great  "I  Am"  that  he  was  selected 
to  pass  from  the  antediluvian  to  the  postdiluvian 
world,  and  was  made  builder  and  then  commander  of 
the  mighty  ark,  which  was  planned  by  God  himself. 
He  delivered  the  decree  in  the  case  of  his  grandson 
Canaan  with  the  same  authority  (doubtless)  that  he 
erected  and  commanded  the  great  ark  until  it  rested 
upon  the  summit  of  Mount  Ararat.  And  woe  be 
unto  that  man,  party,  or  nation,  who  shall  set  at 
nought  those  decrees,  by  trampling  upon  the  wisdom 
of  heaven,  for  he  knows  what  is  best. 

I  will  refer  to  1  Tim.  vi. — 

1.  "  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their 
own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God  and 
Jiis  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed. 

8* 


90  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

2  And  they  that  have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  de- 
spise them,  because  t^ey  are  brethren ;  but  rather  do  them 
service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  beloved,  partakers  of  the 
benefit.  These  things  teach  and  exhort. 

3.  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,  and  consent  not  to  •whole- 
some words,  even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to 
the  doctrine  which  is  according  to  godliness, 

4.  He  is  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  questions 
and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil 
surmisings, 

5.  Perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  desti- 
tute of  the  truth,  supposing  that  gain  is  godliness  :  from  such 
withdraw  thyself." 

I  hope  these  five  verses  will  be  read  with  profound 
attention  by  all  who  believe  slavery  to  be  a  moral 
evil,  especially  those  who  profess  to  have  embraced 
Christianity,  and  claim  St.  Paul  as  the  great  ambas- 
sador of  Jesus  Christ,  and  also  preach  Christ  from 
the  sacred  desk  by  the  teachings  of  St.  Paul,  and 
then  publish  a  sermon  from  those  five  verses,  that 
we  may  all  understand  them  alike,  for  I  am  certainly 
puzzled.  Not  that  there  seems  to  be  anything 
mysterious  in  them,  but  to  understand  how  preach- 
ers of  the  Gospel  of  God  our  Saviour  can  go  into 
pulpits  and  denounce  human  slavery  as  a  moral  evil. 
It  puzzles  me  so  much,  that,  if  I  had  never  tasted 
the  good  word  of  life,  or  felt  the  change  of  heart  by 
believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  should  now. 
repudiate  the  idea  that  the  Bible  was  written  by  in- 
spiration of  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God.  But  having 
had  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the  truth  of 
divine  revelation,  as  written  in  the  New  Testament,  I 
am  constrained  to  think  some  of  them  do  not  believe 
what  they  preach  to  be  according  to  the  word  of  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  91 

Lord.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  if  the  Holy 
Scriptures  taught  and  proclaimed  that  slavery  was 
a  moral  evil,  as  they  teach  that  it  is  not  a  moral  evil 
or  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  would  become 
pro-slavery,  and  denounce  abolitionists  as  I  now  do. 
The  teachings  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
Scriptures  are  so  plain,  righteous,  .consistent,  and 
palpable,  that  I  cannot  exercise  a  sufficient  stretch 
of  charity  towards  such  men  to  believe  them  sincere. 
But  infidelity  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  scheme 
of  abolitionism.  I  talked  with  a  gentleman  the 
other  day,  who  said  he  did  not  want  to  believe 
slavery  was  right,  and  would  not  believe  it.  I  told 
him  the  danger  laid  just  there,  that  men  would  estab- 
lish their  creeds  by  their  own  natural  feelings  and 
morbid  sympathies,  and  then  repudiate  the  inspired 
truth  because  it  condemned  their  infidel  notions  on 
the  subject  in  dispute  between  God  and  themselves. 
What  is  meant  by  "believing  masters?"  what  were 
they  masters  of? 

"  Let  them  not  despise  them,  because  they  are  brethren ; 
but  rather  do  them  service,  because  they  are  faithful,  and 
beloved  partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  teach  and 
exhort." 

How  many  abolition  gospel  preachers  thus  speak 
of  the  slaveholders  ?  Who  of  them  have  imitated 
their  great  exemplar  Paul,  the  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles ?  There  are  good  abolitionists,  I  have  no  doubt, 
but  they  are  of  those  who  have  not  had  time  to  read 
the  Bible  consecutively  through,  and  perhaps  even 
if  they  have,  they  never  once  noticed  the  relation 
of  master  and  servant,  they  being  in  search  of  some- 


92  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

thing  else,  and  consequently  have  made  up  their 
minds  from  what  some  infidel  preacher  of  a  gospel, 
like  the  Eev.  Henry  "Ward  Beecher,  Dr.  Cheever, 
Dr.  Furness,  or  Wendell  Phillips,  has  said  on  the 
subject  to  them,  and  from  their  own  natural  feelings. 
They  believe  these  great  preachers  are  honest ;  they 
have  not  once  thought  that  they  are  the  very  class 
of  men  prophesied  of,  or  alluded  to,  in  the  3d,  4th, 
and  5lh  verses  above  quoted ;  just  read  the  1st  and 
2d  verses  with  marked  attention,  and  then  read  the 
3d,  4th,  and  5th,  with  the  same  attention,  and  see 
how  clear  and  positively  they  point  to  those  preach- 
ers, and  all  such  who  pretend  to  believe  as  they  do. 
They  may  be  given  over  to  "  believe  a  lie,  that  they 
may  be  damned.1'  Yet  it  is  hard  for  me  to  believe 
that  they  are  so  well  off  as  that.  I  hope  the  reader 
will  examine  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  on  those  verses,  and 
see  how  clearly  he  points  out  those  hypocrites  above 
named,  and  all  such.  Those  pretenders  denounce 
Paul's  exhortation  or  precept,  and  make  him  out  a 
hypocrite  and  a  deceiver  of  the  people  like  them- 
selves, and  every  slave  owner  or  master  as  a  thief, 
murderer,  and  robber,  right  in  the  teeth  of  Paul's 
teaching.  O  man,  who  art  thou,  that  thou  shouTdest 
resist  God  and  denounce  his  own  plans  for  evangel- 
izing the  world  ?  Paul's  teachings  are,  that  all  such 
preachers 

"  Are  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  questions 
and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil 
surmisings,  perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and 
destitute  of  the  truth,  supposing  that  gain  is  godliness :  from 
such  withdraw  thyself." 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  93 

In  the  above  verses,  St.  Paul  was  not  only  an 
apostle,  but  an  inspired  prophet,  -and  I  think  the 
present  circumstances  in  the  United  States  is  enough 
to  convince  any  infidel  in  this  country  that  the  Apos- 
tle Paul  was  an  inspired  writer,  therefore  we  are 
bound  as  professing  Christians  to  obey  his  precepts. 
I  quote  those  passages  for  those  who  embrace  the 
Scriptures  as  "the  inspired  word  of  God.  I  know 
there  is  no  use  to  quote  Scripture  to  a  professed 
infidel,  for  it  would  only  be  casting  pearl  before 
swine,  and  the  worst  .kind  of  swine !  For  if  there 
is  anything  that  is  hateful  on  this  earth,  and  that 
ought  to  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  all  good  men,  it  is 
the  man  who  mocks  at  the  word  of  God,  and  de- 
nounces it  as  a  book  of  lies ;  yet  there  is  a  class  of 
men  who  are  even  worse  than  the  infidel.  They 
are  those  who  profess  to  believe  the  Scriptures  to 
be  the  inspired  truth  of  God,  and  are  even  ordained 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  who  are  popular  speakers 
and  who  draw  large  congregations,  and  then  preach 
doctrines  to  them  that  completely  nullifies  the  laws 
of  Moses,  and  the  Spirit,  and  letter  of  the  Gospel 
of  God  our  Saviour,  as  taught  by  St.  Paul.  Some 
preachers  of  the  gospel  of  all  denominations  go 
high  up  into  pulpits,  and  tell  the  Christian  slave- 
holder that  he  is  a  thief,  a  murderer,  and  robber, 
and  exhort  the  slave  to  leave  his  master,  to  steal 
his  horse,  or  his  money,  that  he  may  make  sure  his 
escape.  *  Yes,  if  his  master,  or  any  one  else,  attempts  to 
impede  his  flight,  to  kill  him.  Now  I  ask,  in  the 
name  of  God  and  all  his  holy  angels,  prophets,  and 
apostles,  is  this  right?  even  if  we  leave  St.  Paul's 


94  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

doctrines  of  the  Gospel  of  God  our  Saviour,  out  of 
the  question,  would  it  be  right  in  the  name  of 
reason  and  common  sense  for  preachers  of  the 
gospel  to  encourage  the  running  off  of  slaves  from 
their  masters,  and  leave  the  poor  creatures  in  the 
most  terrible  state  of  degradation,  ruin,  filth,  and 
suffering,  among  strangers  who  have  no  respect  for 
them ;  in  the  name  of  truth  is  it  rightrf  How  much 
more  God-like  was  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul,  in  his 
letter  to  Timothy,  than  these  hellish  doctrines,  that 
will  sooner  or  later  turn  this  glorious  government  into 
universal  anarchy,  and  saturate  its  fertile  soil  with 
human  blood. 

0  how  I  hate  the  man  who  scorns  at  the  word  of 
God !  But  I  hate  that  man  still  more  who  pretends 
to-  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and 
takes  upon  himself  the  authority  to  preach  the  truths 
of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  go  into  his*  pulpit  and 
annul  a  large  portion  of  it  by  recommending  Sharp's 
rifles  as  being  the  best  Gospel  for  slaveholders,  and 
encouraging  murder,  robbery,  and  theft.  "Who  and 
what  has  brought  us  to  such  a  crisis  ?  Antislavery 
preachers.  Has  God  prepared  any  placq  for  such 
preachers  in  the  kingdom  of  Glory  ?  If  he  has,  I 
don't  know  who  will  not  be  there.  Old  Apollyon  will 
not  be  far  off.  How  does  Henry  Ward  Beecher's 
Sharp  rifle  sermon  compare  with  St.  Paul's  letter  to 
Timothy  on  the  subject  of  slaves  and  slaveholders? 
St.  Paul  says  : — 

"  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke,  count  their 
t>wn  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God  and  his 
doctrine  may  be  not  blasphemed." 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  95 

What  could  the  apostle  have  said  that  would  have 
been  more  convincing  and  inviting  to  all  candid 
persons  than  the  above?  How  much  more  God- 
like than  Beecher's  sermon,  or  the  whole  antislavery 
doctrine !  After  the  above  remarks  of  the  apostle, 
which  were  spoken  to  all  servants  and  masters,  with- 
out respect  to  their  moral  standing,  he  then  alludes 
particularly  to  believing  masters,  and  declares  them 
to  be  brethren.  Therefore,  a  more  special  obedience 
to  them  seemed  to  be  enjoined.  But  the  antislavery 
gospel  preachers  say,  the  slaveholders  are  "  thieves, 
murderers,  and  robbers,  and  ought  to  be  shot  down 
like  sheep-killing  dogs,"  "  or  smashed  like  mosqui- 
toes." What  could  be  invented  by  the  devil  better 
calculated  to  raise  the  standard  of  infidelity  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  reduce  the  Scriptures  of  truth 
to  be  looked  upon  as  heathen  fables?  "But  rather 
do  them  service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  be- 
loved partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  teach 
and  exhort." 

It  is  evident  from  these  precepts  that  there  were 
abolitionists  in  those  days,  or  the  apostle  had  the 
nineteenth  century  in  full  view  when  he  wrote  that 
epistle,  or  he  would  not  have  said  so  much  on  the  sub- 
ject in  so  many  places.  He  declares  that  there  were 
believing  masters  who  were  faithful,  and  beloved 
partakers  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  Therefore  he 
enjoins  this  as  a  greater  reason  why  their  servants 
should  obey  them,  and  that  the  Church  should 
respect  them.  But  the  antislavery  preachers  have 
used  every  means  to  expel  all  slaveholders  from  all 
the  communions  of  the  different  Christian  churches, 


96  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

and  declare  them  unworthy  of  respect  right  in  the 
face  of  the  apostle's  exhortation  and  doctrines.  Now, 
tell  me,  how  can  such  men  be  Christians?  Some 
say  they  do  not  see  it  in  this  light.  If  t&ey  do  not 
understand  such  plain  teaching,  they  are  not  fit  for 
the  Gospel  ministry,  and  should  be  silenced  for 
their  ignorance. 

But  I  cannot  believe  some  of  them  are  as  ignorant 
as  all  that ;  they  know  better.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
some  follow  their  own  sympathies  in  preference  to 
Paul's  teaching ;  others  take  that  ground  because  it 
is  more  popular,  and  yields  a  better  livelihood ;  but 
many  enter  the  antislavery  circle  out  of  prejudice 
and  malice.  But  much  the  larger  number  enter  into 
the  arena  because  they  know  it  to  be  more  exciting 
than  any  other  question,  and  produces  the  greatest 
amount  of  bad  feelings,  bickerings,  and  sectional 
hatreds ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  because  it  is  entirely 
sectional,  and  they  can  lavish  their  slanders  without 
personal  danger.  "  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,"  &c. 
What  does  St.  Paul  mean  by  these  words  ?  Does 
he  not  condemn  all  that  oppose  slavery  ?  Does  he 
not  advocate  directly  the  right  of  prpperty  in 
men,  and  that  it  is  the  will  of  the  Lord  ?  "  And  all 
who  teach  otherwise  are  proud,  doting  about  words, 
to  try  to  make  the  word  of  God  of  no  effect."  Has 
not  the  doings  in  the  M.  E.  Church  and  others  been 
a  complete  fulfilment  of  what  St.  Paul  said  in  the 
4th  and  5th  verses  ?  What  has  been  the  result  of 
the  opposition  to  slavery,  or  of  antislavery  gospel 
preaching  ?  Read  those  verses,  and  then  read  the 
history  of  the  churches  prior  to  1840,  and  investigate 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  97 

its  troubles  since  that  time,  and  tell  me  what  did  the 
mischief.  Where  did  all  the  evil  surmisings  come 
from?  How  all  this  bitterness  in  the  Church  of 
God?  How  about  all  the  disputings,  splits,  and 
everlasting  separations?  And  what  has  produced 
the  secession  of  six  States  from  this  Union,  and  the 
almost  certainty  of  the  separation  of  five  or  six 
more?  What  has  caused  the  seizing  upon  go- 
vernment property  by  ruthless  mobs,  and  what 
caused  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter  last  week  ? 
'  What  has  been  the  means  of  calling  75,000  men  out 
under  arms,  ready  for  the  battle-field  ?  What  has 
given  infidelity  the  victory  over  the  church  ?  Who 
has  done  all  this?  Antislavery preaching,  with  all 
the  combined  powers  of  the  devil  and  abolitionists, 
who  may  soon  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  of  a 
million  of  human  souls  being  sent  into  eternity  by 
the  sword,  unprepared. 

I  refer  the  reader  again  to  the  first  five  verses  of 
the  vi.  chapter  of  1  Timothy,  and  hope  they  may 
read  them  over  and  over  until  they  understand 
them,  and  look  over  the  present  condition  of  the 
church  and  state,  and  ask  themselves  the  question 
as  standing  at  the  bar  of  the  eternal  God,  Who  has 
done  all  this  mischief? 

Paul's  letter  to  Titus  ii.  says — 

9.  "Exhort  servants  to  be  obedient  unto  their  own  masters, 
and  to  please  them  well  in  all  things;  not  answering  again ; 

10.  Not  purloining,  but  showing  all  good  fidelity  ;  that  they 
may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things." 

Here  the  Apostle  also  tells  Titus  to  "exhort  serv- 
ants to  be  obedient  to  their  masters  in  all  things; 
9 


98  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

answering  not  again,"  that  is,  they  must  not  hesitate 
when  they  hear  their  masters'  command,  but  obey  it 
to  the  strictest  letter,  and  not  steal  their  masters' 
property  nor  no  other,  but  show  all  good  fidelity, 
that  they  might  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  their 
Saviour  in  all  things.  "  But,"  says  the  abolitionist, 
"those  were  all  hired  servants."  I  will  ask  how 
hired  servants  came  to  have  masters,  and  why  could 
they  not  do  as  they  pleased,  and  if  they  did  not  do 
their  duty,  could  not  their  employers  have  discharged 
them  and  hired  others  that  would  do  their  duty  ?' 
"  Servant"  was  an  accommodating  term,  it  means  a 
•hired  servant  or  a  bond-servant.  But  slave  means 
a  bond-slave  only,  and  could  not  be  made  to  cover 
both,  therefore  the  word  servant  was  used  by  the 
translators.  The  thing  being  so  clear  to  their  minds,' 
that  no  doubt,  they  thought  a  dispute  could  not  arise. 
I  think,  perhaps,  they  did  not  know  the  devil  as  well 
as  they  did  the  languages  of  the  ancients.  I  insert 
these  passages  in  full  for  the  convenience  of  the 
reader,  that  he  may  see  how  much  more  comprehen- 
sive the  Apostle  was  whenever  he  alludes  to  the 
servants.  If  one  of  the  relations  alluded  to  be  wrong 
and  sinful,  all  of  them  are  morally  wrong,  but  if 
any  of  them  are  right,  they  are  all  right. 

I  would  like  some  good  anti-slavery  man  to  ex- 
plain to  me  why  the  Apostle  was  more  comprehen- 
sive and  particular  in  his  exhortation  to  the  slaves 
than  he  was  to  any  others  ?  If  they  were  journey- 
men and  had  a  right  to  leave  off  at  pleasure,  or  if 
the  master  had  a  right  to  discharge  them  without 
loss,  why  was  the  extra  language  used  in  the  22d 


AFRICAN  SEA  VERY.  99 

verse ;  look  at  it,  and  tell  me  why,  if  they  were  not 
slaves  for  life.  These  passages  are  so  emphatic  and 
clear,  that  with  even  casual  readers,  comment  is 
unnecessary,  and  .not  one  word  was  left  on  record, 
from  the  history  of  the  fall  of  man  to  the  Kevela- 
tions,  that  makes  comment  necessary  to  the  attentive 
and  unprejudiced  reader.  I  feel  compelled  to  say, 
that  every  abolitionist  who  reads  the  Bible,  and  says 
the  relation  of  master  and  slave  is  a  sin  against 
God,  is  an  infidel,  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed  a 
place  in  the  Christian  ministry.  Suppose  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  should  denounce  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife,  and  parents  and  children,  as  a  sin  against 
God,  and  constantly  labor  to  separate  them  by  any 
means  that  would  produce  the  effect.  Would  such 
a  one  be  tolerated  in  the  Christian  church?  No, 
not  one  month.  And  society  would  hold  him  up  to 
scorn  and  derision.  "Why  then  should  abolitionists 
be  tolerated  in  the  Christian  church,  when  the  rela- 
tion of  master  and  slave  is  even  more  strongly 
sustained  in  the  text,  than  that  of  husband  and 
wife,  and  parents  and  children.  Did  St.  Paul  any- 
where instruct  the  people  how  to  be  idolaters,  or  to 
commit  adultery,  perjury,  theft,  extortion,  or  intoxica- 
tion ?  Does  the  Scriptures  anywhere  instruct  those 
who  in  violation  of  the  matrimonial  law,  and  live 
in  unchaste  intercourse  with  each  other,  how  they 
must  act  towards  each  other  in  the  unlawful  relation 
which  they  have  assumed?  But  the  Scriptures 
everywhere  teach  us  that  if  we  have  stolen,  to  steal 
no  more.  But  they  nowhere  tell  us  that  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  must  be  broken  up.  No,  not 


100  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

even  one  single  intimation  was  given  that  we  can 
draw  an  inference  that  it  was  objected  to.  I  will 
also  refer  the  reader  to  Paul's  letter  to  Philemon, 
which  was  a  private  letter,  and  was  not  intended  for 
the  public,  for  Philemon  was  not  an  Apostle,  but 
had  been  converted  under  the  preaching  of  Paul 
long  before  Paul  went  to  Eome,  where  he  was  a 
prisoner  when  he  wrote  this  epistle  to  Philemon. 
I  will  here  give  the  whole  letter  of  Paul  to  Phile- 
mon— 

Trite  EPISTLE  OP  PAUL  TO  PHILEMON. — 1.  "  Paul,  a  prisoner 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  Timothy  our  brother,  unto  Philemon  our 
dearly-beloved,  and  fellow-laborer, 

2.  And  to  our  beloved  Apphia,  and  Archippus  our  fellow- 
soldier,  and  to  the  church  in  thy  house  : 

3.  Grace  to  you,  and  peace,  from  God  our  Father  and/the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

4.  I  thank  my  God,  making  mention  of  thee  always  in  my 
prayers, 

5.  Hearing  of  thy  love  and  faith,  which  thou  hast  toward  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  toward  all  saints ; 

G.  That  the  communication  of  thy  faith  may  become  effectual 
by  the  acknowledging  of  every  good  thing  which  is  in  you  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

7.  For  we  have  great  joy  and  consolation  in  thy  love,  because 
the  bowels  of  the  saints  are  refreshed  by  thee,  brother. 

8.  "Wherefore,  though  I  might  be  much  bold  in  Christ  to 
enjoin  thee  that  which  is  convenient, 

9.  Yet  for  love's  sake  I  rather  beseech  thee,  being  such  a 
one  as  Paul  the  aged,  and  now  also   a  prisoner  of  Jesus 
Christ; 

10.  I  beseech  thee  for   my  son  Onesimus,  whom  I   have 
begotten  in  my  bonds : 

11.  Which  in  time  past  was  to  thee  unprofitable,  but  now 
profitable  to  thee  and  to  me : 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  101 

12.  "Whom  I  have  sent  again ;   thou  therefore  receive  him, 
that  is  mine  own  bowels  ; 

13.  Whom  I  would  have  retained  with  me,  that  in  thy  stead 
he  might  have  ministered  unto  me  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel : 

14.  But  without  thy  mind  would  I  do  nothing;   that  thy 
benefit  should  not  be  as  it  were  of  necessity,  but  willingly. 

15.  For  perhaps  he  therefore  departed  for  a  season,  that 
thou  shouldest  receive  him  for  ever  ; 

16.  Not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  a  brother 
beloved,  especially  to  me,  but  how  much  more  unto  thee,  both 
in  the  flesh  and  in  the  Lord  ? 

17.  If  thou  count  me  therefore  a  partner,  receive  him  as 
myself. 

18.  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee  aught,  put  that 
on  mine  account ; 

19.  I  Paul  have  written  it  with  mine  own  hand,  I  will  repay 
it :  albeit  I  do  not  say  to  thee  how  thou  owest  unto  me  even 
thine  own  self  besides. 

20.  Yea,  brother,  let  me  have  joy  of  thee  in  the  Lord :  refresh 
my  bowels  in  the  Lord. 

21.  Having  confidence  in  thy  obedience,  I  wrote  unto  thee, 
knowing  that  thou  wilt  also  do  more  than  I  say. 

32.  But  withal  prepare  me  also  a  lodging :  for  I  trust  that 
through  your  prayers  I  shall  be  given  unto  you. 

23.  There  salute  thee  Epaphras,  my  fellow-prisoner  in  Christ 
Jesus ; 

24.  Marcus,  Aristarchus,  Demas,  Lucas,  my  fellow-laborers. 
r  25.  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  your  spirit. 

Amen. 
IT  "Written  from  Borne  to  Philemon,  by  Onesimus  a  servant. 

Why  did  Paul  not  advise  Onesimus  to  stay  away 
from  his  master  Philemon,  when  he  could  have  done 
it  without  its  ever  having  been  known  by  his  mas- 
ter ?  If  Paul  had  been  a  timid  man,  what  a  chance 
here  was  for  him  to  have  done  fight  without  em- 
barrassment. But  it  is  very  clear  that  he  was  not  a 


102  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

timid  man,  for  he  made  the  very  foundations  of 
heathen  mythology  and  society  to  tremble,  by 
proclaiming  the  Gospel  of  Christ  everywhere  in 
public,  from  Jerusalem  to  Eome,  and  denounced 
their  idols,  their  adulteries,  fornications,  drunkenness, 
barbarism,  dishonesty,  and  oppressions,  and  every 
kind  of  wickedness,  and  told  them  that  God  could 
not  behold  any  of  those  things  with  the  least  degree 
of  allowance,  and  reminded  them  on  the  highway, 
and  upon  the  house-top,  and  in  church,  irrespective 
of  prisons  and  bonds,  that  God  would  judge  them. 
If  slavery  had  been  wrong,  he  would  not  have  sent 
Onesimus  home  with  the  above  epistle.  It  is  evident 
he  would  have  denounced  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave,  and  told  Philemon  he  was  sinning  against 
God,  and,  unless  he  set  Onesimus  free,  he  would  be 
sent  away  with  the  devil  and  his  angels  into  outer 
darkness,  where  there  would  be  weeping,  wailing, 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Yet  the  apostle,  with  all  his 
courage  and  boldness  in  denouncing  sin  of  every 
kind,  tolerates  slavery,  by  sending  Onesimus  back 
to  his  master  (although  he  had  become  a  Christian) 
with  the  above  epistle ;  although  Philemon  was  far 
away  from  Paul's  prison-house,  yet  he  seemed  to 
have  no  rest  after  he  learned  that  Onesimus  was  a 
fugitive  from  bondage,  and  his  Christian  brother 
Philemon's  legal  property. 

If  slavery  be  a  moral  evil,  why  did  the  apostle 
send  Onesimus  back  to  bondage,  from  which  he  had 
fled,  with  an  epistle  to  his  master  Philemon,  who  had 
been  converted  under  Paul,  without  inserting  one 
single  sentence  against  his  moral  right  to  Onesimus 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  103 

as  his  property  ?  Being  now  far  from  his  master's 
power,  just  as  much  so  as  a  slave  from  Georgia  is  when 
in  Canada.  If  it  had  been  right  for  him  to  have 
continued  free,  why  did  this  inspired  apostle  of 
Christ  send  him  back  to  bondage  ?  Did  he  not  see 
by  the  wisdom  that  God  had  given  him,  tnat  he 
could  not  be  a  true  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ  unless  he 
did  so  ?  That  Onesimus  could  not  remain  there  and 
be  a  righteous  man,  in  the  sight  of  God,  while  owing 
service  to  his  master  without  his  master's  consent. 
Why  was  this  epistle  handed  down  to  us  as  a  part 
of  the  Scriptures  of  truth,  containing  Paul's  direction 
in  this  case  ?  Was  it  not  for  our  instruction  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  ?  Certainly  no  Christian  man 
will  say  it  was  not.  How  a  professing  Christian  can 
endeavor  to  give  so  different  a  meaning  to  all  the 
passages  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  I  cannot 
tell ;  and  when  I  read  the  18th  and  19th  verses  of 
the  last  chapter  of  Eev.,  as  follows :  — 

18.  "  For  I  testify  unto  every  man  that  heareth  the  words 
of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  If  any  man  shall  add  unto  these 
things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in 
this  book. 

19.  And  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words  of  the 
book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the 
book  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy  city,  and/rom  the  things  which 
are  written  in  this  book." 

I  tremble  at  the  thought  of  even  bad  men  trying 
to  overthrow  the  Christian  Church,  by  misconstruing 
the  Holy  Scriptures;  but  I  fear  more  when  men, 
professing  to  be  the  followers  arid  believers  in  the 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  declare  they  are 


104  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

called  of  him  to  preach  his  own  everlasting  Gospel 
to  a  fallen,  sinful,  and  dying  world — when  they  enter 
the  sanctuary  under  a  pretence  of  administering  in 
holy  things,  and  expounding  the  holy  Scriptures, 
and  then  condemn  and  denounce  as  the  "  sum  of  all 
villainy"  what  is  so  clearly  taught  throughout  divine 
revelation  by  all  the  inspired  writers  of  that  holy 
book  of  God,  who  mentioned  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave,  I  say  I  fear  more  that  some  terrible 
judgments  will  be  let  fall  upon  us  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  When  our  ministers  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  in  the  teeth  of  the  warning  quoted  above 
from  Eevelations — right  in  opposition  to  the  clearest 
teachings  of  divine  revelation,  declare  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  to  be  a  sin  against  God,  when  it 
is  their  imperative  duty  to  sustain  that  relation  just 
as  much  as  it  is  to  sustain  the  relation  of  husband 
and  wife  or  father  and  child ;  for  the  teachings  of 
divine  inspiration  in  reference  to  the  relation  of 
master  and  servant  is  more  impressively  taught,  and 
made  more  imperatively  the  duty  of  every  teacher  of 
the  Holy  Bible  to  sustain  the  relations  of  master  and 
slave,  and  it  is  their  imperative  duty,  under  the  Gos- 
pel Dispensation,  to  use  every  honorable  means  to 
send  fugitives  from  labor  home  to  their  masters, 
whenever  they  come  in  contact  with  them.  If  they 
do  not  do  this,  and  "  teach  otherwise,"  they  are  ten-^ 
fold  more  the  children  of  the  devil  than  they  were 
before  the  Bishop  laid  his  hands  on  their  heads,  be- 
cause they  refuse  to  declare  the  whole  gospel  truth, 
not  only  by  withholding  such  parts  of  it  as  do  not 
suit  their  taste,  but  they  denounce  those  certain 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  105 

portions  as  being  from  the  devil,  and  in  league  with 
hell. 

St.  Paul  everywhere  exhorts  the  slaves  to  be  obe- 
dient to  their  masters  in  all  things,  not  to  neglect 
their  work,  not  to  serve  with  eye  service — that  is, 
they  were  required  to  be  just  as  faithful  in  the  per- 
formance of  their  duty  in  the  absence  of  their 
masters  as  when  they  were  present  with  them — not 
to  -steal  nor  waste  anything  that  belong  to  their 
masters,  but  to  perform  every  duty  as  to  God,  and 
they  should  have  a  reward  in  heaven,  whether  they 
be  "  bond  or  free  ;"  that  is,  whether  they  were  of  the 
Israelites,  who  could  not  be  made  slaves  for  life,  and 
had  to  be  treated  as  hired  servants,  or  whether  they 
were  of  the  heathen,  for  whom  there  was  no  liberty 
or  freedom  in  this  world  promised.  They  were  all 
alike  exhorted  to  faithfulness  to  their  masters,  with- 
out which  they  had  no  promises  of  heaven  hereafter. 
And  even  the  return  of  them  to  their  masters,  when 
ihey  run  away,  is  required  of  the  Church,  as  St.  Paul 
sent  Onesimus  directly  home  to  Philemon,  his  master. 
"  If  any  man  teach  otherwise,"  he  is  a  hypocrite — a 
child  of  the  devil ;  and  for  "  teaching  otherwise,"  he 
shall  have  his  "  portion  in  the  lake  that  burns  .with 
fire  and  brimstone  forever,  yea,  forever  and  ever." 
They  will  not  only  destroy  the  Christian  Church, 
which  is  the  only  hope  of  the  free  government,  but 
thej"  will  break  up  this  great  and  glorious  free 
republican  government,  if  they  have  not  already 
done  it,  and  placed  it  almost  beyond  the  hope  of 
recovery,  by  their  unlawful  and  ungodly  opposition 


106  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

to  negro   slavery,  whose   condition   never   can   be 
bettered  in  this  country  outside  of  slavery. 

There  is  no  philanthropy  so  merciful  as  that  of 
slavery  for  the  poor  unfortunate  Africans.  There  is 
no  trade  more  hated,- and  that  has  the  appearance  of 
greater  wickedness,  than  the  slave  trade.  My  own 
soul  abhors  the  very  idea  of  the  foreign  slave  trade. 
The  Rev.  John  Wesley  said  it  was  the  "  sum  of  all 
villainies;"  Adam  Clarke  said  very  strong  things 
against  it,  though,  perhaps,  he  never  saw  a  negro 
slave,  and  but  few  negroes,  if  any,  as  his  entire  life 
was  spent  in  Europe ;  therefore  he  had  no  personal 
knowledge  of  the  relation  of  master  and  slave.  Yet 
he  fully  justified  the  moral  right  to  hold  slaves  for 
life,  throughout  his  Commentary  on  the  Bible. 
After  Mr.  Wesley  made  use  of  that  very  strong 
denunciation,  he  visited  the  United  States  and  the 
West  India  Islands,  and  saw  the  condition  of  master 
and  slave.  He  received  masters  and  slaves  both  into 
the  church,  and  administered  the  sacraments  to  them, 
baptized  the  children  of  slaveholders,  and,  I  believe, 
if  I  recollect  right,  licensed  slaveholders  to  preach 
the  Gospel  of  God  our  Saviour.  He  was  not  heard 
to  utter  a  word  against  the  institution  of  slavery,  or 
tell  any  slaveholder  that  he  was  a  thief,  murderer, 
and  robber,  because  he  was  a  slaveholder,  or  that 
slavery  was  a  moral  evil,  as  it  existed  in  the  United 
States  or  the  West  Indies;  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken 
in  my  recollection  of  facts,  he  admonished  the  mis- 
sionaries coming  to  the  United  States  not  to  interfere 
with  the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  but  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  both  alike.  Yet  with  all  the  abhor- 


AFRICAN  SLAVEEY.  107 

rence  to  the  foreign  slave  trade,  and  Mr.  Wesley's 
denunciation,  it  has  produced  more  civilization,  and 
raised  more  human  beings  from  heathenism  and  bar- 
barism to  Christianity,  than  all  the  missionary  efforts 
of  the  world  besides,  since  the  reformation,  though 
they  have  done  much  good  for  civilization  and  true 
Christianity.  I  know  I  shall  be  branded  with  the 
most  terrible  names  for  giving  utterance  to  such 
sentiments ;  if  so,  I  must  bear  it  the  best  I  can,  for 
if  I  speak  at  all  on  the  subject,  I  must  speak-  what  I 
believe  to  be  the  truth,  as  taught  in  history.  As  I 
have  said,  I  am  a  true  friend  of  the  negro  race,  and 
pity  them ;  but  human  nature,  common  sense,  and 
reason,  philanthropy,  Christianity,  and  my  great  love 
and  admiration  of  this  great  and,  glorious  Union,  and 
the  fear  of  the  judgments  of  Almighty  Grod,  binds 
me  to  these  opinions. 

Does  it  not  look  as  if  my  fears  were  about  to  be 
realized  ?  Look  at  the  condition  of  our  great  coun- 
try— are  we  not  on  the  very  verge  of  a  bloody  civil 
war  ?  Where  will  it  end  when  once  inaugurated  ? 
Can  it  be  restored  by  any  compromises,  after  hostili- 
ties once  set  it  ?  Can  we  have  Union  without  love 
and  harmony  between  the  slave  and  free  States  ? 
Will  the  taking  of  their  slaves  from  them  produce 
love  and  harmony  between  the  two  extremes  ?  For 
that  is  the  only  object  of  the  anti-slavery  party.  Oppo- 
sition to  slavery  has  brought  us  to  this  awful  crisis. 
With  an  army  behind  us  so  terrible  that  it  is  resist- 
less, while  we  are  on  the  brink  of  an  endless  gulf  of 
the  eternal  overthrow  of  the  best  government  on 
which  the  sun  has  ever  shone  (I  don't  mean  the 


108  AFEICAN  SLAVERY. 

present  administration),  and  it  is  only  a  step  before 
us,  which  can  be  averted  only  by  a  speedy  return 
to  our  loyalty,  to  the  Constitution,  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  which  have  been  trampled  upon  by 
some  of  the  free  States  for  many  years,  and  a  speedy 
return  to  Christian  forbearance  and  love,  as  taught 
by  our  Saviour  and  his  holy  Apostles. 

The  free  States  now  have  the  truly  religious 
means  within  their  reach  to  save  the  whole  nation 
from  a  collision  that  will  engulf  us,  as  a  nation, 
perhaps  forever.  We  are  not  asked  to  concede  any- 
thing that  belongs  to  us.  If  we  speedily  turn,  and 
do  right  in  the  sight  of  heaven,  we  shall  be  saved ; 
if  we  do  not.  national  ruin,  with  anarchy  or  a  terri- 
ble and  perpetual  despotism  may  be  the  result  of 
our  folly. 

I  will  give  a  short  extract  from  a  letter  I  received 
from  the  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  of  Boston,  a  short 
time  ago,  for  those  who  differ  with  me  about  the 
loyalty  of  some  of  the  free  States.  Some  of  us 
wauled  to  get  up  a  large  mass  meeting,  to  avert,  if 
possible,  the  calamities  we  saw  before  us.  I  was 
requested  to  write  to  Mr.  Everett,  and  invite  him  to 
come  on,  and  make  a  speech  on  the  occasion.  I 
wrote,  and  received  an  answer,  from  which  I  quote 
the  following  from  recollection,  as  I  have  not  the 
letter  before  me — 

"  There  is  no  use  of  making  any  more  speeches  for  the  Union, 
unless  the  free  States  will  repeal  their  unconstitutional  personal 
liberty  bills." 

Mr.  Everett  must  pardon  me  if  I  have  erred  in 
the  wording,  I  have  given  the  very  sentiment,  and 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  109 

it  is  full  of  meaning.  I  have  spent  about  twenty- 
six  years  of  my  time  in  the  slave  States,  and  twenty- 
nine  years  in  the  free.  I  have  been  well  acquainted 
in  nine  or  ten  of  the  slave  States.  And  had  it  not 
been  for  my  objections  to  having  anything  to  do 
with  slave  labor,  I  should  have  settled  in  the  State 
of  Mississippi  many  years  ago.  For  a  finer,  more 
liberal,  agreeable,  and  devout  Christian  people,  I 
have  never  seen  in  this  world,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken  in  full  in  the  first  two  or  three  chapters  of 
this  book,  and  to  my  notion,  one  of  the  most  pleasant 
climates  in  this  country,  for  those  who  are  not  com- 
pelled to  labor  constantly  in  the  hot  sun.  I  have 
travelled  a  good  deal,  and  been  a  considerable  ob- 
server of  the  happiness  of  the  people.  But  I  have 
never  seen  a  class  of  persons  so  happy  as  the  negro 
slaves  of  that  State.  I  never  saw  one  exception 
among  the  slaves  of  the  South,  nor  one  maltreated, 
and  never  knew  of  but  one  being  badly  flogged.  I 
did  not  see  that,  but  if  I  was  to  tell  what  for,  you 
would  wonder  that  he  had  not  been  killed  on  the 
spot.  I  knew  all  the  parties  well. 

The  stories  about  maltreatment  to  slaves,  are  the 
foulest  and  most  unmitigated  slanders  that  were  ever 
hatched  up  by  the  devil  and  his  emissaries.  If 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Mrs.  Childs,  the  Misses  Grim- 
kies,  Dred,  and  a  thousand  and  one  more,  had  been 
born  in  the  lower  regions  of  the  damnation  of  hell, 
and  had  been  educated  at  the  feet  of  old  Apollyon, 
they  could  not  have  belched  out  more  foul,  infamous 
slanders,  than  they  have  done  in  the  many  books 
they  have  written  against  slavery  and  slaveholders. 
10 


110  AFRICAN  SLAVERY 

No  one  has  a  better  knowledge  of  the  infamous 
slanders  than  they  have.  And  thousands  of  ministers 
of  the  gospel  join  in  and  help  spread  those  slanders 
from  the  desk  that  has  been  dedicated  to  the  service 
of  the  living  God,  knowing  them  to  be  false  in  many 
cases,  and  if  they  do  not,  they  ought  to  be  expelled 
from  the  ministry  for  their  ignorance.  But  they 
cannot  be  so  ignorant,  for  common  sense  and  reason 
teaches  better  things.  They  are  the  employees  of 
the  King  of  darkness,  who  he  has  commissioned 
and  sent  forth  to  destroy  the  hopes  of  mankind. 
How  does  their  teachings  compare  with  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  the  quotations  herein  made  from  the  Bible  ? 
Henry  "Ward  Beecher  says  from  his  pulpit,  that 
Sharp's  rifles  are  the  best  gospels,  and  the  only  one 
-  fit  to  preach  to  slaveholders.  He  sent  his  agents  out 
with  Sharp's  rifles  in  their  hands,  and  a  Bible  in 
their  pockets,  to  administer  to  slaveholders  with 
powder  and  bullets ;  and  I  suppose  the  Bible  was 
for  the  negroes  and  followers  of  the  abolition  gospel 
preachers.  A  celebrated  Methodist  preacher  stationed 
at  one  of  our  finest  churches,  said  in  a  sermon  on 
the  war — 

"Brethren,  I  feel  that  I  cannot  restrain  myself  much  longer. 
I  must  shoulder  my  musket,  start  for  the  rebels,  and  the  first 
one  I  meet,  I  will  discharge  the  contents  of  my  musket  through 
him,  and  while  the  blood  is  weltering  from  his  veins,  I  will 
kneel  down  by  his  side,  and  pray  God  to  pardon  his  sins." 
"  Great  Britain,"  said  he,  "  is  threatening  to  come  and  attack 
us,  but"  (clasped  his  thumb  to  his  nose,  and  spreading  his 
fingers  like  an  ape)  "  let  her  come,  and  she  will  never  try  it 
again." 

Now  I  ask,  how  much  of  the  mind  that  was  in  our 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  Ill 

Lord,  was  in  that  man?  How  much  of  the  spirit 
that  moved  St.  Paul  when  he  was  preaching  to  both 
masters  and  slaves  ?  Are  such  as  the  above  possessed 
with  love?  Christ  said  "we  must  love  our  enemies, 
return  good  for  evil,  and  by  so  doing  we  shall  heap 
up  coals  of  fire  on  their  heads."  The  sword  of  the 
spirit  is  the  only  weapon  of  warfare  our  Lord  be- 
queathed to  those  he  sent  forth  to  preach  his  own 
everlasting  gospel.  And  as  soon  as  we  take  up  the 
temporal  sword,  the  Holy  Spirit  takes  its  flight. 
Our  Lord  said  to  Peter — 

Matt.  xxvi.  52.  "  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his  place : 
for  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword." 

Has  all  our  preachers  obeyed  this  admonition  of 
our  Lord.  Or  did  he  give  his  ambassadors  licenses 
that  he  had  not  from  the  great  God  who  sent  him 
to  us  as  his  great  ambassador.  Compare  these 
abolition  gospel  preachers  with  our  Lord  and  his 
Apostles,  and  where  do  they  stand  on  the  slave 
question?  How  did  the  prophets,  the  patriarchs,  . 
our  Lord,  and  his  Apostles,  treat  upon  slavery  and 
slaveholders  ?  Why,  our  Lord  said  to  his  disciples 
in  reference  to  a  large  slaveholder,  "I  have  not 
found  so  great  faith,  no  not  in  Israel."  Paul  said, 
"slaves,  obey  your  masters  in  all  things."  "Yet 
as  many  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their  own 
masters  worthy  of  all  honor." 

A  preacher  said  to  some  gentlemen  the  other  day, 
that  he  almost  desired  to  be  the  devil  from  now 
throughout  all  eternity,  that  he  might  go  down  to 
hell  to  torture  the  slaveholders,  by  piling  them  up 
and  dashing  them  to  pieces  against  each  other,  to 


112  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

increase  their  torture  throughout  all  eternity:  that 
he  feared  he,  the  devil,  would  be  too  lenient  towards 
slaveholders.  I  am  glad  to  saj  this  was  not  a 
methodist  preacher. 

How  it  is  that  the  masses  can  be  so  blinded  and 
led  by  such  devils  incarnate,  is  entirely  beyond  my 
comprehension;  and  how  it  is  that  so  many  good 
people  seem  so  blind  that  they  do  not  see  the  vortex 
of  ruin  just  before  them  that  these  abolition  leaders 
and  preachers  are  leading  them  into.  And  if  we  do 
not  speedily  awake  from  our  sleep  of  blindness  and 
hurl  these  infidel  traitors  from  our  midst,  or  ever- 
lastingly silence  them,  our  great  and  glorious  govern- 
ment, that  was  so  heaven-like,  will  be  lost  forever, 
and  we  shall  be  placed  under  a  despotism  that  will 
end  all  our  liberties,  and  our  happiness  of  course ; 
or  some  other  diabolical  change  will  take  place. 
"War  will  end  all  our  hopes  for  future  happiness ; 
nothing  can  now  save  us  but  for  us  to  submit  to  be 
guided  by  the  teachings  found  in  the  gospel  of  Christ 
on  the  subject  in  dispute. 

I  was  in  Mississippi  in  1844  while  the  General 
Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  was  in  session  in 
New  York,  which  struck  the  first  official  and  fatal 
blow  at  the  union  of  these  States.  The  alarm  among 
the  people  was  beyond  description;  they  thought  the 
people  of  the  free  States  were  determined  to  drive 
them  out  of  the  Union.  They  looked  upon  it  as  a 
direct  attack  upon  their  rights  when  Bishop  Andrews 
was  deposed  because  he  had  married  a  lady  that 
owned  two  or  three  little  negro  children  that  had 
been  left  her.  How  must  every  Christian  slaveholder 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  113 

have  felt  when  that  most  ungodly  and  unfortunate 
step  was  taken.  It  unlocked  the  first  door  to  our 
ecclesiastical  and  national  ruin,  and  the  complete 
breaking  of  the  glorious  systems  that  God  had  in 
his  goodness  blessed  us  with.  The  cotton  States 
then  were  as  the  antechamber  of  Paradise.  •  There 
were  then  no  distractions,  except  the  howlings  of  the 
abolitionists  of  the  north,  and  the  response  of  a  few 
fire-eaters  of  the  south,  who  were  the  legitimate  off- 
spring of  the  abolitionists  of  the  free  States.  They 
were  called  fire-eaters  because  they  threw  back  the 
charges  made  against  them  by  the  anti-slavery  party 
with  contemptuous  indignation.  The  abolitionists 
aimed  their  blows  at  their  tenderest  spots  for  no 
other  purpose  than  to  break  up  this  great  and  glo- 
rious Union.  They  made  slavery  the  pretext,  and 
it  was  only  a  pretext;  for,  what  can  such  fellows  as 
the  preacher  who  said  he  would  like  to  be  the  devil 
(for  fear  the  old  devil  would  fail  in  his  duty  to  slave- 
holders) care  for  the  poor  slaves !  About  as  much 
as  the  serpent  cared  about  the  happiness  of  our  first 
parents,  when  he  seemed  to  pity  them  so  much  for 
their  ignorance  of  good  and  evil,  when  their  ruin 
was  his  only  object. 

So  also  those  devils  incarnate  pretend  to  love  and 
pity  the  poor  slaves,  and  swell  out  great  big  words 
of  admiration  for  the  union  of  States ;  yet  they  pre- 
tend to  love  the  dear  slaves,  a  little  better,  and  by 
that  means  they  know  just  as  well  as  the  devil  did 
that  the  tasting  of  the  fruit  would  curse  Adam,  that 
their  course  would  destroy  the  peace  and  tranquillity 
of  this  nation  and  our  liberties,  and  ruin  the  last 
10* 


114  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

* 

hope  for  poor  Africa.  All  this  is  aimed  at  the  root 
of  ChristianiC j ;  it  is  a  hatred  towards  God,  and  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  mankind.  Theft,  slander, 
persecution,  and  abuse  have  been  the  means  used  to 
overthrow  this  nation,  that  the  Christian  Church 
might  be  overthrown. 

I  am  met  with  the  reply  that  it  is  only  a'few  reli- 
gious fanatics  who  do  these  things.  I  say  that  is 
not  so ;  it  is  whole  communities,  counties,  and  States 
united  with  those  fanatics.  Did  not  the  State  of 
Massachusetts  elect  Charles  Sumner  to  the  United 
States  Senate  the  second  time  when  they  knew  just 
what  he  was?  How  many  of  the  free  States  have 
passed  laws  which  completely  annul  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  the  slave  States.  Get  the  slave  lawa 
of  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and 
Connecticut,  called  personal  liberty  bills,  and  read 
them  over  until  the  scales  shall  fall  from  your  eyes, 
and  you  will  see  that  they  were  framed  expressly  to 
embarrass  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  thereby  to  rob  the  slaveholders  of  their 
own  lawful  property.  These  things  were  done  many 
years  ago,  and  with  them  the  persecutions  and  slan- 
ders have  been  unceasing.  And  what  has  been  more 
insulting  than  anything  else,  those  terrible  denuncia- 
tions have  been  made  by  Christian  ministers  from 
the  pulpit  to  large  and  crowded  houses,  and  now  the 
terrible  judgments  of  Almighty  God  are  upon  us, 
and  no  man  seems  to  repent  of  his  sin  against  heaven 
and  earth.  May  the  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us,  and 
save  us  from  the  judgments  which  now  stare  us  in 
the  face;  for  if  they  are  not  averted  they  will  soon 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  115 

• 

burst  upon  us  like  the  raging  winds  and  seas  upon 
the  rock-bound  mariner.  Almost  the  "only  passage 
that  the  abolition  party  evei^uote  from  the  Bible  to 
condemn  slavery  is  the  general  rule  or  precept  given 
by  our  Lord,  Matt.  vii.  12. 

"  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  'do  ye  even  so  to  them :  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets." 

How  this  passage  can  be  construed  to  affect  the' 
lawful  relations  of  men,  is  as  puzzling  to  me  as  any- 
thing else  they  do.  This  precept  is  a  general  one, 
and  if  the  anti-slavery  party  had  only  just  obeyed  it, 
we  should  now  be  at  peace  throughout  this  entire 
country.  For  it  compels  them  to  treat  the  slave- 
holders just  as  they  would  have  the  slaveholders  to 
treat  them.  How  would  they  have  the  slaveholders- 
to  treat  them  ?  With  all  candor  and  respect  in  all  his 
lawful  right.  He  would  not  have  the  slaveholders* 
to  interfere  with  anything  which  belongs  to  him 
without  his  permission ;  he  would  not  have  them  to 
insult  him  by  calling  him  hard  names,  and  proclaim 
to  large  audiences  that  he  was  a  thief,  murderer,  and 
a  robber.  Now,  under  this  precept  he  is  bound  to 
treat  the  slaveholder  with  the  same  kindness  in  all 
things  whatever,  which  he  might  desire  from  the 
slaveholders.  And  if  he  cannot  fully  realize  his 
duty,  let  him  completely  reverse  the  circumstances 
between  himself,  and  the  slaveholder,  by  supposing 
himself  born  and  brought  up  a  slaveholder,  and  sup- 
pose he  had  five  hundred  slaves  on  his  plantation, 
how  would  he  have  the  people  of  the  North  to  treat 
him  ?  Would  he  not  have  them  to  treat  him  with 


116  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

all  kindness  and  respect  in  all  of  his  lawful  rights  ? 
Then,  by  this  precept  of  our  Lord,  are  you  not  bound 
to  treat  the  slaveholder  with  that  kindness  which 
you  would  require  if  placed  where  he  is  ?  But  you 
say,  the  relation  of  fhasters  and  slaves  is  a  very  dif- 
ferent thing.  So  it  is.  But  does  that  change  the 
question  in -the  least?  Are  not  slaves  bound  by  the 
same  precept  just  as  much  as  their  masters?  Are 
•they  not  required  to  render  such  service  and  obe- 
dience to  their  masters  in  all  things,  that  they  would 
have  their  masters  to  render  unto  them  full  obedience 
and  service,  if  their  circumstances  were  completely 
reversed  ?  And  the  master  is  only  required  to  treat 
his  slaves  as  he  would  be  treated  by  them,  if  he  was 
their  slave ;  besides,  it  is  his  lawful  right  to  hold  such 
persons  in  slavery. 

But  no  white  man  who  is  a  true  descendant  of 
*Shem  can  be  righteously  enslaved,  except  for  crime, 
for  the  laws  of  heaven  forbid  it.  But  not  so  with 
the  Africans.  An  all-merciful  God  decreed  that  they 
should  be  slaves  to  the  Israelites  without  limitation. 
Although  it  was  over  twenty-three  hundred  years 
before  Christ,  yet  he  in  his  day  never  uttered  a 
word  against  the  slave  law ;  and  he  blest  men  who 
were  large  slaveholders,  witho'ut  saying  to  them  that 
it  was  sinful.  We  find  St.  Paul,  some  fifty  or  sixty 
years  after  Christ,  enjoining  the  duties  of  slaves  to 
their  masters  upon  them  in  the  strictest  manner,  and 
also  the  duties  of  masters  to  their  slaves,  and  not  a 
word  uttered  by  that  great  man  of  God  against  the 
slave  laws,  or  a  petition  for  their  repeal.  But  woe 
be  unto  every  master  who  shall  maltreat  slaves  by 


AFEICAN  SLAVERY.  117 

putting  more  on  them  than  they  are  fully  able  to 
bear,  or  by  withholding  from  them  sufficient  good 
wholesome  food  and  comfortable  clothing ;  for  they 
have  a  Master  in  heaven,  who  will  hold  them  to  a 
strict  accountability  for  their  treatment  to  the  ser- 
vants God  has  allotted  to  them  to  care  and  provide 
for. 

Suppose  we  should  give  to  this  injunction  of  our 
Lord  the  one-sided  definition  that  abolitionists  do,, 
and  that  construction  should  be  agreed  upon  the 
world  over.  Let  us  see  what  the  result  would  be: 
A  criminal  stands  before  the  court  for  sentence,  he 
addresses  himself  to  his  honor,  and  says:  if  your 
honor  were  in  my  place,  and  I  in  yours,  your  honor 
would  have  me  to  discharge  you  without  sentence. 
Therefore,  I  demand  of  your  honor  to  do  to  me  as 
you  would  have  me  do  to  you,  and  let  me  go  free. 
The  culprit  on  the  platform,  under  sentence  of  death, 
would  say  to  the  sheriff,  you  know  you  would  not 
have  me  to  hang  you,  if  our  circumstances  were  re- 
versed, you  know  you  would  have  me  say  to  you 
go  in  peace,  and  sin  no  more.  Therefore,  I  demand 
of  you  to  do  as  you  would  be  done  by,  take  off 
these  shackles,  and  let  me  go  free.  This  definition 
to  this  injunction  would  ruin  the  world  if  men 
should  go  by  it.  While  on  the  other  hand,  the 
injunction  with  the  legitimate  construction,  and  the 
only  one  which  can  be  put  on  it  by  true  men,  if 
all  should  resolve  to  live  by  it,  wars  and  rumors  of 
wars  would  cease,  and  the  whole  world  would  be  at 
peace  in  a  very  short  space  of  time.  There  would 
be  no  quarrelling,  no  fighting,  no  cheating,  no  steal- 


118  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

ing,-  and  a  police  force  would  be  useless.  It  is  a 
most  glorious  precept.  One  of  its  principles  seems 
to  be  overlooked  altogether  by  the  abolitionist. 
That  is,  it  forbids  one  man  to  ask  of  another  what 
he  feels  in  his  soul  that  he  would  no^o  for  him  if 
circumstances  were  reversed.  And  no  honest  man 
will  ask  another  to  help  him  under  such  circum- 
stances. So  much  for  this  precept  of -our  Lord. 

But  slavery  is  a  sin,  or  moral  evil,  says  the  aboli- 
tionist, therefore  must  and  shall  be  destroyed,  even 
if  church  and  state  shall  both  be  destroyed  with  it. 
How  came  slavery  or  anything  else  to  be  a  moral 
evil  ?  There  must  be  some  rule  by  which  morals 
are  established,  therefore  there  must  be  a  moral  law, 
or  there  can  be  no  moral  evil.  It  is  conceded  by 
all  abolitionists  that. there  is  moral  evil,  therefore 
they  must  admit  that  there  is  a  moral  law.  If  there 
is  a  moral  law,  where  did  it  come  from,  and  by 
whom  was  it  established  ?  There  was  a  moral  law 
among  the  antediluvians.  But  the  first  written  law 
we  have  any  account  of,  was  written  by  Moses,  and 
it  seems  that  it  was  handed  down  to  him  by  the 
Almighty  in  the  mountain.  And  in  that  very  law, 
slavery  was  fully  recognized.  Gen.  xvii.  12-13, 
Ex.  xx.  17,  Lev.  xxv.  38-55.  Those  passages  I 
have  copied  in  full  in  the  previous  chapter.  It  is 
enough  to  show  -that  slavery  was  fully  recognized 
by  Moses,  the  great  Jewish  lawgiver,  in  both  the 
moral  and  civil  law.  The  decalogue,  or  ten  com- 
mandments, was  given  to  Moses  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  himself.  And  in  that,  slavery  is  fully  recog- 
nized by  the  eternal  God,  and  no  slave  laws  in  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  119 

United  States  are  more  positive  than  those  contained 
in  the  xxv.  of  Lev.  There  can  be  no  moral  law 
without  divine  sanction. 

If  none  of  the  laws  of  Moses  have  divine  sanction 
upon  them,  then  there  could  not  have  been  any 
moral  evil.  Then  if  there  is  any  moral  evil  in  the 
world,  God  must  have  directed  the  passage  of  the 
laws  of  Moses,  for  there  could  not  have  been  any 
morals  without  his  presence,  and  as  slavery  is  re- 
cognized in  those  laws,  it  must  have  been  recognized 
as  a  moral  right.  The  xxv.  of  Lev.,  the  38th  and 
55th  verses,  ought  to  be  noticed  with  marked  atten- 
tion, as  one  immediately  precedes,  and  the  other 
immediately  follows  the  most  positive  pro-slavery 
laws  ever  enacted  in  the  world.  Eead  from  the  38th 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  and  you  must  admit  divine 
sanction  was  given  to  all  those  verses,  if  there  is 
any  truth  in  the  declaration,  that  all  Scripture  was 
written  by  divine  inspiration. 

There  are  no  passages  of  Scripture  which  con- 
demns human  slavery  as  it  exists  in  this  country. 
There  is  not  one  line,  nor  one  word,  from  which  an 
inference  can  be  drawn  against  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave.  The  relation  of  husband  and  wife  has 
not  got  such  Scriptural  protection  thrown  around  it 
that  slavery  has.  And  I  suppose  the  only  reason, 
for  that  was,  the  inspired  writers  knew  that  the 
relation  of  husband  and  wife  would  not  at  any  age 
of  the  world  need  the  amount  of  support,  because 
it  was  more  natural  and  congenial  to  both  parties 
than  slavery  ever  would  be.  There  is  great  caution 
given  by  St.  Paul  to  husbands  and  wives  to  love 


120  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

f 

each  other,  but  their  obligations  were  not  so  particu- 
larly and  specially  enjoined,  as  that  to  masters  and 
servants.  And  doubtless  the  reasons  were,  that  the 
spirit  which  impressed  the  minds  of  the  inspired 
writers  what  to  write,  saw  far  in  the  future  the  bold 
opposition  that  would  be  made  to  his  arrangements 
for  the  good  of  mankind  by  abolitionists.  Therefore 
the  difference,  or  extra  advice  to  masters  and  slaves. 
"What  has  been  the  result  of  the  interference  with 
the  moral  and  civil  rights  to  hold  slaves  as  pro- 
perty ?  The  frightful  condition  of  our  great  repub- 
lican empire  at  this  time  are  its  legitimate  results ; 
and  unless  the  precept  of  our  Lord  shall  be  speedily 
and  righteously  adhered  to,  our  great  free  republican 
government  will  be  eternally  overthrown,  and  we 
shall  be  reduced  to  an  equality  with  negro  slaves. 
The  just  judgments  of  the  Almighty  are  already 
upon  us ;  an  attempt  to  save  the  Union  by  the  force 
of  arms  will  blast  all  our  hopes  as  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent nation  and  people  forever,  and  proclaim  to 
the  whole  world  that  man  is  incapable  of  self- 
government.  We  were  a  free  and  independent 
people,  governed  by  laws  made  by  the  people — a 
general  government  with  a  limited  central  power, 
conceded  by  a  number  of  free  sovereign  States. 
The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  by  all  the  people 
of  all  the  sovereign  States,  produced  a  free  Repub- 
lican Constitutional  Union  of  all  free  citizens  of 
North  America.  It  was  a  free-will  offering  or  con- 
cession of  all  the  people,  for  the  good  of  the  whole. 
Therefore,  if  one  part  interferes  with  the  Constitu- 
tional rights  of  the  other,  and  resolves  upon  any 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  121 

unconstitutional  plans  to  limit  or  circumscribe  those 
rights,  having  the  numerical  power  to  do  so,  the 
minority  or  the  oppressed  are  no  longer  under  any 
obligations  to  the  other,  and  can  withdraw  at  plea- 
sure. This  is  common  sense,  common  reason,  and 
common  law.  This  was  the  opinion  of  most  all 
good  men.  The  Honorable  John  Quincy  Adams,  of 
Mass.,  gave  it  as  his  opinion  in  a  positive  way,  a 
short  time  before  his  death.  How  truly  does  he 
say— 

"  But  the  indissoluble  link  of  the  union  between  the  people 
of  the  several  States  of  this  confederated  nation  is,  after  all, 
1  not  in  the  right,'  '  but  in  the  heart.'  "  And  also,  "far  better 
will  it  be  for  the  people  of  the  disunited  States,  to  part  in 
friendship  with  each  other,  than  be  held  together  with  con- 
straint !" 

Mr.  Adams  took  the  only  true  ground ;  that  our 
strength  was  in  the  union,  and  not  in  the  right. 
Now,  this  being  the  case,  as  every  common  sense 
man  in  the  nation  must  agree,  who  has  given  the 
principles  of  a  free  republican  constitutional  Union 
like  ours  only  a  limited,  impartial  study,  in  con- 
nection with  a  slight  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
how  it  is  that  so  many  people  seem  to  think  that 
one  part  of  this  great  nation  has  a  right  to  slander, 
abuse,  oppress,  and  hate  the  other  part,  and  limit 
them  in  their  lawful  rights,  and  then  force  them  to 
live  in  a  union  with  us,  is  too  ridiculous  for  sensible 
men  to  believe.  I  hear  professing.  Christian  men 
denouncing  our  southern  brethren  as  the  greatest 
scoundrels  and  devils  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  de- 
clare they  shall  not  leave  us  if  it  cost  $10,000,000.000 
11 


122  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

and  one  million,  or  even  five  millions  of  lives  of 
white  men  to  force  them  to  live  in  the  Union  with 
us.  That  is,  they  would  do  all  this  to  make  slaves 
of  eight  millions  of  white  citizens,  of  our  own  race 
and  blood,  who  are  fully  capable  of  self -government,  to 
free  less  than  four  millions  of  Hack  negroes,  not  of 
our  race  or  blood,  and  made  totally  incapable  of  self- 
government  by  a  decree  of  the  Almighty,  and  must  have 
guardians,  or  be  miserable  through  all  time,  if  not 
throughout  eternity.  We  have  just  as  good  a  right 
to  suppose  King  "  Dehomi"  is  fit  for  President  of  the 
United  States,  as  to  suppose  the  slaves  of  this  country 
are  fit  for  freedom  and  self-government.  And  just  so 
sure  as  we  betray  our  trust,  and  set  them  free  in  this 
country,  God  will  judge  us  as  not  being  fit  for  self- 
government  ;  and  every  man  who  is  not  a  million- 
aire, will  be  reduced  to  slavery,  and  placed  on  an 
equality  with  negroes.  How  men  can  take  the 
course  they  do  for  the  emancipation  of  that  race  who 
are  so  physically  dissimilar,  and  even  obnoxious  to 
the  sight  and  taste  of  every  decent  white  person,  and 
right  in  the  face  of  the  most  positive  teachings  of 
inspired  truth,  is  an  enigma  of  which  I  must  decline 
the  solution. 

The  Gospel  tends,  in  its  effects,  to  abolish  im- 
prisonment, capital  punishment,  war,  and  even 
involuntary  servitude  to  a  limited  extent.  "When 
the  people  are  all  righteous,  sheriffs  and  police  will 
be  of  no  further  use,  the  penal  code  will  be  a  dead 
letter,  courts  of  all  kinds  will  be  held  as  a  mere 
prudential  system  for  the  convenience  of  the  people, 
and  perhaps  the  Decalogue  or  ten  commandments 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  12o 

will  be  tbe  only  law  on  the  statute  books.  What 
has  broken  up  our  peace  and  happiness  as  a  Chris- 
tian society  ?  What  has  been  the  greatest  disturber 
of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  this  great  nation  for 
the  last  forty  years  ?  What  has  separated  the  Chris- 
tian churches  of  this  country,  and  what  is  now  sepa- 
rating this  great  and  mighty  Eepublican  Empire? 
Who  and  what  is  plunging  us  into  a  bloody  civil  or 
servile  war,  and  perhaps  bloody  revolutions,  which 
may  not  end  in  a  hundred  years,  and  will  end  only  by 
reducing  us  to  slavery  under  one  of  the  most  extreme 
despotisms  that  has  ever  reigned  over  any  people  ? 
Then  the  difference  between  the  white  man  and 
negro  will  not  be  respected  by  our  rulers.  I  sa}r, 
what  has  done  all  this  mischief?  Abolitionism, 
with  their  unlawful  and  ungodly  opposition  to  slave- 
ry; and  all  the  responsibility,  with  all  the  awful 
consequences  are  upon  them.  There  was  no  room 
for  a  doubt,  that  if  the  Chicago  Platform  was  sus- 
tained by  a  vote  of -the  people,  our  ruin  would  be 
.sealed  by  that  act.  That  we  should  be  whipped 
with  many  stripes  was  certain.  All  who  had 
watched  the  course  of  things,  and  had  given  human 
nature  a  proper  study,  had  not  the  slightest  doubt 
of  the  fatal  result.  There  never  has  been  an  event 
in  the  world  that  was  more  certain  to  follow  anv 
contingencies  than  the  secession  of  the  Cotton  States 
from  the  Union  on  the  success  of  the  Chicago  Plat- 
form, or  the  success  of  a  candidate  who  had  given 
his  solemn  pledge  to  sustain  it  if  elected.  I  was 
astonished  to  find  so  many  good  men  who  accepted  it 
as  their  political  ^reed,  and  who  looked  upon  us  as 


124  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  greatest  fools  for  seeming  to  fear  any  danger. 
They  said,  in  reply  to  our  warnings,  that  there  \vus 
not  a  man  in  South  Carolina  who  could  be  kicked 
out  of  the  Union. 

The  prospective  result  was  so  clear  to  me,  in  case 
that  that  most  unconstitutional  political  creed  was 
sustained  at  the  Presidential  election  of  1860,  that  I 
sometimes  almost  doubted  their  sincerity,  because  it 
was  so  strange  to  me  that  every  man  of  observation 
did  not  seem  to  see  it,  for  it  was  the  very  course  of 
nature.  Christian  men  seemed  now  to  rely  on  the 
arm  of  Jehovah,  and  are  now  bold  in  saying  that 
they  have  no  fear  while  he  is  on  the  Throne ;  that 
the  South  are  altogether  in  the  wrong,  and  he  will 
rebuke  them  by  turning  tneir  negroes  upon  them, 
and  they  would  soon  call  on  us  to  save  them  from 
the  savage  tribe,  and  the  negroes  would  all  be  freed 
without  our  striking  a  blow. 

Sayings  of  this  kind  are  in  almost  every  Repub- 
lican mouth.  If  I  believed  Jehovah  is  on  our  side, 
I  should  not  suffer  as  I  do.  But  I  fear  we  are  not  in 
the  right,  and  I  cannot  claim  divine  aid  in  a  war  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  negro  slaves  of  the  South. 
I  believe  the  judgments  of  God  are  already  upon  us 
for  our  interference  with  his  own  arrangements 
among  men ;  and  so  sure  as  we  go  on  to  coerce  the 
Southern  States,  our  downfall  will  be  completed. 

Every  southern  leader  offered  to  accept  the  Crit- 
tenden  Compromise,  which  gave  us  the  three-fourths 
of  all  the  public  domain  of  the  United  States  as  free 
territory,  which  was  more  than  I  thought  they  would 
do.  If  we  had  accepted  that,  ani  removed  every 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  125 

•unconstitutional  obstacle  out  of  the  way,  including  the 
Chicago  Platform,  and  the  South  had  then  seceded,  as 
they  have  done,  I  believe  God  woulctehen  have  been 
on  our  side,  and  I  should  feel  safe.  But  as  it  is,  I  have 
no  hope,  because  I  believe  we  are  in  the  wrong;  and 
1  fear  the  sequel  will  prove  it  to  be  so  when  too  late. 
The  avenger  of  blood  is  already  at  our  heels,  and, 
unless  we  speedily  repent  and  concede  what  is  right 
in  the  premises,  God  will  hold  us  to  a  severe  account- 
ability. We  have  been  interfering  with  their  rights 
for  many  years,  personally,  collectively,  and  by 
statute  laws.  "We  were  the  first  sinners  against  the 
Constitution  of  the  nation,  and  we  have  acted  as 
though  it  was  made  for  the  free  States,  and  that  the 
slave  States  had  no  part  nor  lot  in  it.  Therefore,  if 
we  do  not  move  first,  and  concede  all  their  rights  to 
them,  and  no  more — and  no  more  have  they  ever 
asked — we  shall  be  ruined  forever — ruined  as  a  great 
nation.  Our  constitutional  government  will  end 
now,  and  God  will  hold  us  responsible. 

I  have  no  sympathy  with  secession,  for  they  had 
no  right  to  do  wrong  because  we  did.  They  are 
not  clear  of  a  fearful  responsibility,  and  God  will 
deal  out  justice  to  them  in  proper  measure.  I  am  a 
citizen  of  Pennsylvania  by  choice.  All  my  interests 
are  here,  and  here  I  expect  to  live  and  die.  If  this 
great  Union  is  to  be  dissolved,  I  shall  be  a  ruined 
man.  There  will  be  no  hope  for  me  on  the  other  side 
of  a  dissolution  of  this  great  Republican  Empire. 
The  sound  of  the  cannon  and  the  bray  of  the  war- 
horse  will  never  cease  to  be  heard  by  us,  until  we 
go  hence.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  South  now. 
11* 


126  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

I  might  write  five  hundred  pages  of  abuse  and  slan- 
der upon  them;  it  would  please  those  I  am  com- 
pelled to  come*in  contact  with,  and  make  me  many 
strong  friends,  who  now  hate  me  because  I  cannot 
see  and  think  as  they  do.  To  say  what  I  do  not 
believe,  and  what  I  know  is  not  the  truth,  I  will  not, 
not  even  to  save  my  neck  from  being  stretched  on 
the  "  lamp-post,"  or  incarceration  in  some  desolate 
Bastile.  For  to  do  so  I  should  sin  with  my  eyes 
wide  open  against  heaven,  my  country,  and  my  own 
personal  liberties.  If  I  could  believe  the  word  of 
God  was  any  more  certain  than  the  course  of  the 
republican  party  is  to  destroy  this  great  constitu- 
tional government,  I  should  have  some  hope  of  a 
restoration  with  peace  and  union  while  that  party  is 
in  power.  But  as  it  is,  I  have  no  hope  of  ever 
being  a  free  man  in  the  United  States  again,  because 
I  see  such  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  domi- 
nant party  to  coerce  the  seceding  States  back  again, 
knowing  the  very  attempt  is  disunion  and  destruc- 
tion. For  union  is  peace,  love,  harmony,  tranquillity, 
and  mutual  agreements ;  but  war  is  its  very  opposite. 
How  can  good  make  bad,  or  how  can  bad  make  good? 
Where  does  our  great  Christian  chart  recommend 
so  hateful  a  course  towards  our  enemies?  The 
great  John  Quincy  Adams  said  that  the  strength, 
permanency,  and  safety  of  our  great  Union  "  was  not 
in  the  right,  but  in  the  heart;"  and  as  long  as  it  was 
kept  in  the  heart,  we  were  the  strongest,  the  most 
powerful,  and  the  most  glorious  government  on  the 
face  of  the  earth.  But  as  soon  as  our  power  was 
removed  from  the  heart  to  the  arm,  we  at  once  be- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  127 

come  the  weakest  of  all  great  nations ;  and  unless 
we  return  to  our  first  love,  our  liberties  and  peace 
will  never  return  to  us  as  a  great  nation,  and  .we 
shall  be  laughed -at  as  fools  by  the  whole  civilized 
world,  and  our  glorious  Stars  and  Stripes  will  never 
be  respected  again  as  they  have  been. 

The  administration,  with  all  their  violent  support- 
ers, seem  to  be  as  ignorant  of  where  our  _  strength 
lay,  as  Delilah  and  the  Philistines  were  of  Sampson's. 
As  long  as  God  was  his  strength  he  was  more  than  a 
match  for  the  world.  But  as  soon  as  he  was  shorn 
of  his  strength,  his  enemies  had  no  trouble  in  pluck- 
ing out  his  eyes.  The  abolition  Delilah  found  out 
where  our  strength  lay  as  a  great  and  mighty  em- 
pire, and  have  been  using  all  foul  means  to  remove 
our  strength  from  the  heart  to  the  head,  or  anywhere 
else  so  that  it  was  not  in  the  "heart"  For  while  it 
was  there  God  was  our  strength,  and  every  civilized 
nation  of  the  globe  trembles  at  the  thought — not  at 
our  rights,  for  there  was  no  power  in  the  "right"  but 
in  the  "heart"  Therefore,  infidelity  through  the 
agency  of  abolitionism  have  shorn  us  of  ^ir  mighty 
power  by  producing  sectional  hatreds,  divided  by  a 
geographical  line,  separating  the  North  from  the 
South.  And  infidelity  through  a  special  pretended 
or  morbid  philanthropy  for  the  negro  slaves  of  the 
South  (but  none  for  anybody  else),  have  labored  inces- 
santly for  more  than  forty  years  to  remove  our 
strength  from  the  "heart"  to  the  head  and  arm. 
Knowing  that  as  soon  as  the  North  and  South  was 
made  to  hate  each  other,  their  work  of  ruin  was 
complete. 


128  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

In  order  to  do  that,  the  most  damning  slanders 
have  been  originated  in  the  free  States,  and  published 
from  pulpits,  platforms,  newspaper  offices,  books, 
and  periodicals  of  every  description-  and  shape,  and 
the  man  who  could  say  the  hardest  things  against 
their  Southern  brethren  from  their  pulpits  was  the 
most  popular  preacher  of  the  day.  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,"  perhaps,  was  the  most  fatal  of  all  other 
periodicals,  because  it  found  its  way  into  all  the 
Theatres  in  the  free  States  of  this  country,  and  all 
European  theatres,  where  our  Southern  brethren 
were  held  up  to  ridicule  and  the  foulest  slanders 
ever  heaped  upon  mankind.  No  theatricals  before 
them  were  ever  so  popular,  all  because  the  false- 
hoods and  slanders  excelled  all  before  them,  and 
were  made  against  as  high  minded,  liberal,  noble 
hearted  and  truly  Christian-like  people  as  ever  lived 
in  this  or  any  other  country. 

Now,  how  was  it  possible  under  such  circumstan- 
ces for  any  truly  loyal  citizen  to  have  expected  any- 
thing else  than  civil  war.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  cer^n  to  follow,  and  }'et  nothing  so  wicked, 
unholy,  and  ungodly.  O,  how  I  hate  the  men  and 
women  who  have  ruined  my  country,  my  home,  and 
all  my  hopes  (as  a  free  citizen)  for  ever.  The  South- 
ern people  have  acted  bad  towards  their  friends  in 
the  free  States,  and  no  punishment  would  be  ade- 
quate to  their  crime  against  the  Constitution  and 
Union  of  these  once  happy  States.  That  being  the 
case,  what  ought  to  be  the  punishment  of  those  here 
in  the  free  States  who  have  labored  so  long  and 
incessantly  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  drive  them 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  129 

to  do  just  what  they  have  done,  under  the  belief, 
that  we  could  whip  them  without  much  trouble  or 
expense?  The  great  reliance  being  in  the  negro 
slaves  of  the  South  rising  up  and  cutting  the  throats 
of  all  their  owners — what  could  be  more  wicked 
than  such  a  desire  or  thought  ?  But  how  sadly  has 
been  our  mistake ;  and  in  addition  to  that,  however 
soon  the  war  may  terminate,  we  shall  be  slaves  to  a 
national  debt  which  will  bind  us  down  for  ever. 
When  I  know  all  this  is  the  price  of  an  ungodly 
opposition  to  negro  slavery;  yea,  when  I  see  my 
brethren  and  race  yoked  and  forced  from  their  fami- 
lies by  thousands,  and  even  hundreds  of  thousands, 
and  driven  into  the  field  to  battle  for  the  negro 
slaves,  to  be  set  free  contrary  to  divine  revelation; 
that  is,  the  white  race  are  made  slaves,  that  the 
negroes  may  be  freed,  and  put  out  of  use  for  ever — • 
I  feel  an  indignation  rising  that  is  hard  to  suppress, 
for  God  said,  they  ("  We,  the  people")  should  not  be 
"  ruled  over  with  rigor."  1  will  give  one  more 
quotation  and  close. 

I.  Peter  ii.  18.  "  Servants,  be  subject  to  your  masters  with  all 
fear,  not  only  to  the  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to  the  froward." 

Here  the  servants  are  charged  to  be  subject  to 
their  masters,  not  only  to  the  good  but  also  the  bad 
and  hard  hearted,  "  with  all  fear."  If  I  could  find 
one  word  in  the  whole  book  of  God  that  gave  the 
slightest  intimation  that  slavery  was  a  moral  evil, 
there  would  be  some  apology  for  the  course  of  that 
class  of  preachers  and  people  against  it.  But  as  there 
is  no  such  passage,  which  can  be  sustained  by  other 
Scripture,  there  can  be  no  apology  offere'H  in  their 


130  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

behalf.  They  have  joined  themselves  to  the  only 
class  of  infidelity  that  ever  could  have  overthrown 
the  Christian  church  as  it  existed  in  this  country, 
and  with  it  our  great  Christian-like  national  govern- 
ment and  constitutional  union,  which,  when  rightly 
sustained,  was  the  very  counterpart  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven.  Yet,  in  all  probability,  the  very  men 
who  profess  to  have  been  called  by  the  eternal  God 
to  preach  his  own  everlasting  gospel  to  a  lost  and 
ruined  world  has  ruined  this  great  Constitutional 
government  and  free  Eepublican  Union. 

It  is  so  strange  that  men  cannot  see  the  difference 
between  a  voluntary  Union  by  all  the  people,  and 
an  involuntary  one  established  by  force  or  military 
power.  If  voluntary  by  concessions  and  agreements 
of  all  the  people,  as  this  one  was  formed,  then  of 
course  it  must  be  sustained  as  it  was  formed,  or  it 
must  go  down.  This  is  the  only  plan  of  a  free 
Eepublican. Constitutional  Union  in  which  the  people 
rule,  or  are  a  self-governing  people.  If  any  attempt 
is  made  to  sustain  the  -Union  by  force  or  military 
power,  that  very  day  you  take  the  government  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  we  become  a 
monarchical  despotism,  and  the  people  are  no  longer  free. 
This  is  what  Garrisonian  abolition  was  established 
for  in  New  England,  and  all  who  joined  them  against 
negro  slavery  have  aided,  and  many  have  aimed  at 
bringing  this  terrible  crisis  upon  our  glorious  repub- 
lic, whether  in  the  church  or  state,  and  it  is  a  just 
judgment  of  almighty  God  for  our  attempt  to  de- 
stroy his  own  arrangements  for  the  salvation  of  the 
human  race. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  131 

I  am  now  done — I  have  written  this  chapter  about 
as  long  again  as  the  articles  I  wrote  for  the  "  Metho- 
dist," which  was  declined  publication,  for  reasons 
given  in  the  correspondence  between  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Crooks  (the  editor)  and  myself,  which  I  now  add  as 
an  appendix. 


LETTER    I. 

"  OFFICE  OF  'THE  METHODIST,' 
NASSAU  BANK  BUILDING,  No.  7  BEEKMAN  STREET, 

New  York,  February  25,  1861. 
"  MY  DEAR  BRO.  EOBINSON  : — 

"  I  confess  your  article  did  surprise  me  not  a  little.  I  think 
you  have  made  the  common  mistake  of  rushing  to  one  extreme 
in  order  to  avoid  another.  Slavery  in  the  Bible  is  humanized 
aud  tolerated,  but  not,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  sanctioned.  I  think 
it  a  state  of  society  which  men  outgrow,  but  which  they  can- 
not easily  be  driven  from  by  storm  and  bluster.  Your  article 
womcTcan  out  replies  and  open  controversy,  which  I  wish  to 
avoid.  There  is  so  much  contending  to  be  done  necessarily, 
that  I  do  not  wish  to  bring  on  a  new  discussion  on  another 
branch  of  the  subject,  if  I  can  help  it.  I  have  for  this  reason 
made  no  referencdfco  Van  Dyke's  sermon,  which  goes  over  the 
ground  of  your  article. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  GEORGE  R.  CROOKS." 

Brother  Crooks'  note  surprised  me  quite  as  much 
as  mine  did  him.  But  he  does  not  say  what  part 
of  it  surprised  him  so  terribly.  He  mentions  several 
points  in  my  article,  but  he  plainly  gives  one  as 
his  reason  for  refusing  to  publish  the  article,  and 
that  was  the  fear  of  "  controversy  on  new  points  of 
this  subject."  If  that  were  really  his  only  objection 


132  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

I  should  be  perfectly  satisfied,  for  I  do  not  wish  to 
do  wrong ;  but  he  strongly  intimates  that  I  copied 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Yan  Dyke's  sermon,  that  was  preached 
in  New  York  or  Brooklyn  some  time  in  December, 
1860.  I  never  saw  the  sermon  alluded  to,  nor  heard 
of  it  until  the  morning  I  mailed  my  article  to  the 
Methodist.  A  gentleman  called  at  my  place  just  as 
I  was  going  to  mail  it,  and  I  asked  him  to  read  it. 
He  did  so.  "When  he  had  finished,  he  remarked 
that  my  ideas  and  Kev.  Mr.  Yan  Dyke's  were  simi- 
lar on  the  subject.  That  was  the  first  intimation  I 
had  that  a  sermon  had  been  preached  by  any  one  on 
these  points;  and  I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  that  celebrated  discourse  yet.  But  Bro. 
Crooks  will  find  similar  sentiments  expressed  in  a 
Philadelphia  daily,  about  the  first  of  last  November, 
in  a  column  and  a  half  over  the  cognomen  of  Wide 
awake.  Therefore  Mr.  Yan  Dyke  was  not  the  first 
that  imbibed  such  sentiments.  I  do  not  think  Bro. 
Crooks'  insinuation  was  as  respectful  as  it  might 
have  been. 

But  Bro.  Crooks  says,  the  Bible  hiMkanized  and  tole- 
rated slavery,  but  did  not  sanction  it.  Humanize  is 
to  soften,  or  make  susceptible  of  tenderness,  or  put 
in  human  shape  or  form,  or  to  be  human-like. 
Tolerate  is  to  allow  what  is  not  lawful.  It  would 
appear  from  the  declaration  of  the  Rev.  Crooks,  that 
our  Heavenly  Father  saw  fit  to  add  to  the  beasts  of 
burthen  men  and  women,  to  be  used  as  such ;  for  I 
do  not  see  how  they  could  be  humanized  in  any 
other  way,  unless  cattle  and  horses  could  be  turned 
into  human  beings.  This  would  be  contrary  to  the 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  133 

laws  of  nature.  Therefore,  slavery  could  not  be 
humanized  in  that  way.  Then  1  take  the  ground 
that  the  Bible  must  fully  recognize  slavery,  or  it 
could  not  humanize  it ;  for  to  be  a  slave  is  to  be  under 
the  complete  control  of  a  master,  the  same  as  horses 
or  cattle.  I  cannot  apply  the  term  to  slavery  in  any 
other  way,  and  I  confess  that  the  application  I  have 
made  is  rather  vague  to  my  own  clumsy  mind.  I  hope 
Mr.  Crooks  will  tell  us  what  he  means  by  the  Bible's 
humanizing  slavery,  and  how  it  could  be  done  with- 
out sanctioning  it ;  for  I  confess  I  am  too  dumb  to 
see.  Tolerate  is  to  allow  something  that  is  unlawful. 
Actions  and  doings  were  lawful  under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  that  were  forbidden  under  the  laws  of 
our  Saviour.  Acts  xvii.  30.  "And  the  times  of 
this  ignorance  God  winked  at,  but  now  commandeth 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent."  I  understand  this  to 
teach  that-we  are  to  turn  away  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness. Therefore,  if  slavery  be  unscriptural,  it  cannot 
be  tolerated  by  the  Bible ;  and  I  cannot  see  how  the 
Bible  can  tolerate  anything  that  is  contrary  to  divine 
law.  Therefore,  if  the  Bible  only  tolerates  the  sys- 
tem of  slavery,  it  must  tolerate  what  is  unlawful.  If 
the  word  means  to  allow  what  is  contrary  to  divine 
law,  and  all  that  is  contrary  to  divine  law  is  sinful. 
Therefore,  if  slavery  be  contrary  to  the  law,  it  would 
be  sinful  to  tolerate  it.  Mr.  Crooks  is  very  far  from 
being  an  abolitionist,  but  I  cannot  understand  his 
logic. 

Mr.  Crooks'  strongly  intimates   that   my  article 
was  full  of  storm  and  bluster,  and  that  I  attempted 
to  carry  my  point  by  "storm  and  bluster."  "Bluster'' 
12 


134  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

is  to  roar,  as  a  storm,  to  bully,  to  puff.  "Storm"  is 
a  little  different — it  is  a  tempest,  a  commotion  of 
the  elements,  assault  on  a  fortified  place,  tumult, 
violence,  vehemence,  tumultuous  force.  I  do  not 
think  there  is  anything  of  that  kind  in  the  article ; 
if  there  is,  I  did  not  mean  it.  If  I  had  had  the 
advantages  of  an  education  like  my  friend  Eev.  Mr. 
Crooks,  perhaps  I  should  be  able  to  write  without 
making  any  impression  on  my  readers.  But  as  I 
never  went  to  school  but  a  very  few  months,  there- 
fore I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  language 
to  be  able  to  combat  with  an  opponent  without 
making  him  feel  what  I  say.  Webster's  Speller, 
the  Primer,  the  English  Reader,  and  Bennett's 
Arithmetic,  were  almost  the  only  books  used  in  those 
days  where  I  was  educated ;  and  the  teachers,  per- 
haps, could  not  pronounce  twenty  words  correctly 
in  the  whole  English  language.  The  general  im- 
pression among  the  old  folks  was,  that  any  know- 
ledge, of  books  beyond  being  able  barely  to  read 
and  cipher  to  the  single  rule  of  three,  would  be 
certain  ruin  to  the  scholars.  Therefore,  I  must  be 
excused  for  stating  things  plain  and  pointed,  so  as 
to  be  understood.  If  I  was  well  versed  in  etymology 
and  English  grammar  I  might  become  so  "human- 
ized" that  I  could  find  sufficient  language,  and  roll 
my  words  up  so  finely,  softly,  and  beautifully,  that  the 
reader  would  be  so  struck  with  my  language,  so 
exquisitely  beautiful,  that  my  hearers  or  readers 
would  never  know  what  I  was  talking  or  writing 
about.  St.  Paul  was  very  pointed  and  plain.  And 
our  Lord  was  even  more  so.  Matt,  xxiii.  33.  "Ye 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  135 

serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers  1  how  can  ye  escape 
the  damnation  of  hell."  Bro.  Crooks,  I  don't  think 
I  have  said  anything  in  the  article  I  sent  you  for 
publication  more  severe  than  the  above.  "Why  did 
he  speak  so  severe  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees? 
Because  they  had  become  so  hardened  in  iniquity, 
that  he  knew  they  could  not  be  touched  in  any 
other  way.  Just  so  I  think  of  the  abolitionist ;  yea, 
they  are  even  worse  than  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
for  they  made  no  pretensions  of  love  to  our  Lord, 
but  the  abolitionists  do.  They  profess  to  be  his  dis- 
ciples, and  preachers  of  his  gospel;  and  yet  they 
denounce  his  precepts,  and  steal  their  neighbor's 
property,  and  lie  to  hide  it.  They  are  traitors  to 
the  government  of  God,  and  of  the  United  States, 
and  deserve  to  be  called  a  generation  of  vipers  and 
serpents  just  as  much  as  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
and  to  be  hanged  as  much  as  old  John  Brown  did. 

I  will  now  close  this  chapter,  by  saying  to  Mr. 
Crooks,  that  I  will  not  write  another  article  for  pub- 
lication in  the  ''  Methodist"  until  I  am  so  humanized 
by  the  Bible  that  I  can  write  without  "storm"  or 
"bluster."  I  could  have  made  many  other  quota- 
tions from  the  Bible  which  would  prove  that  slavery 
was  not  only  common  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but 
as  completely  endorsed  as  any  other  practice,  occu- 
pation, or  ownership,  that  was  foretold  and  author- 
ized by  the  prophets,  apostles,  and  believers  in  them, 
and  I  think  I  have  give'n  enough  for  any  candid  man, 
and  we  must  not  forget,  that  whatever  the  prophets 
or  apostles  said  or  foretold  had  no  more  power  to 
produce  or  affect  what  was  foretold  than  we  have  to 


136  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

pro'duce  such  effects.  Noah's  declaration  that  Canaan 
should  be  a  slave  did  not  make  him  a  black  heathen. 
But  the  power  that  enabled  him  to  foresee  the  flood, 
and  foretell  it,  effected  the  curse  alike  in  both  cases. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

JOHN  BELL  EOBINSON, 

Feb.  28,  1861. 

LETTER    IT. 

Are  the  Africans  capable  of  Self-government?     Or  can 
tJiey  le  made  so?     If  not,  ought  they  to  le  Free? 

MESSRS.  EDITORS:  It  is  conceded  by  all  men, 
everywhere,  that  happiness  is  the  chief  object  of  the 
human  race  throughout  the  earth.  Happiness  is 
what  every  man  desires.  Ungodly  men  are  selfish, 
and  care  not  for  the  pleasures  of  others,  arid  will 
extort,  by  craft  or  even  force,  to  reduce  their  neigh- 
bors, and  rob  them  even  of  their  natural  as  well  as 
their  lawful  rights  to  increase  their  own  store  of 
happiness.  Godly  men  desire  happiness  just  as 
much  as  the  avaricious,  but  they  desire  to  see  their 
neighbors  as  happy  as  themselves,  and  they  will  use 
every  righteous  meana  to  make  them  so.  Their 
philanthropy  reaches  not  only  to  their  neighbors 
(though  to  them  first),  but  to  the  happiness  of  their 
State,  their  nation,  and  then  to-  the  whole  world; 
and  they  are  ready  to  give  out  of  their  substance, 
whether  it  be  great  or  small,  a  portion  to  advance 
the  happiness  of  the  human  family  in  every  part  of 
the  world,  beginning  at  their  homes,  which  are  their 
godly  rights,  and  then  those  nearest  to  them,  and  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  137 

next;  and  so  on  their  philanthropy  spreads  over  .the 
whole  world.  Philanthropy  is  very  popular;  there- 
fore there  is  a  large  amount  of  false  philanthropy  in 
the  world,  and  even  in  the  Christian  church.  Ava- 
rice knows  no  bounds;  stops  not  even  at  human  life. 
Happiness  does  not  consist  in  the  greatest  amount  a 
man  has,  but  in  the  manner  in  which  he  uses  it. 
Alexander  the  Great  conquered  the  world,  and  then 
was  tormented  the  balance  of  his  days  because  there 
were  110  more  worlds  for  him  to  conquer.  John 
Jacob  Astor  or  Stephen  Girard  was  a  thousand 
times  more  unhappy  than  the  southern  slaves ;  there- 
fore it  is  not  the  greater  amount  that  a  man  has  that 
makes  him  happy,  but  the  condition  he  keeps  his 
mind  in,  and  the  cultivation  of  his  disposition  for 
enjoyment.  Freedom  is  sought  for  as  a  source  of 
happiness ;  but  an  unlimited  freedom  would  be  death 
to  all  human  happiness.  Fanatics,  and  bad,  ava- 
ricious men,  desire  and  seek  for  unlimited  means 
and  unbounded  liberty  to  satisfy  their  avaricious 
cravings  and  their  fanatical  ideas  of  freedom.  The 
Garrisonian  abolitionists  seem  to  have  but  one  idea 
of  happiness,  and  that  is  universal  liberty  or  free- 
dom of  the  human  race.  With  them  that  idea  swal- 
lows up  all  others  without  the  slightest  respect  to 
circumstances,  conditions,  races,  or  capability.  The 
only  happiness  they  seem  to  think  of  or  seek. for  is 
the  universal  freedom  of  the  African  negroes  in  this 
country  and  the  placing  them  on  an  equality  with 
the  white  man.  St.  Paul  was  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  amiable  philanthropists  that  ever  lived, 
and  had  but  one  superior  in  human  shape,  and  that 
12* 


138  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

was  our  Saviour.  Our  Lord  sanctioned  -no  liberty 
as  being  Christian  but  civil  or  constitutional  liberty, 
and  said  that  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God.  St.  Paul  adhered  strictly  to  this  doctrine  with 
all  the  other  sacred  teachers,  and  exhorted  the  mas- 
ter and  his  slave,  the  husband  and  his  wife,  the.  child 
and  parent,  all,  in  the  same  language,  to  respect  each 
other's  civil  rights,  and  used  the  strongest  language 
to  impress  this  sacred  duty  upon  the  minds  of  all 
his  hearers,  and  was  even  more  impressive  to  the 
slave  or  bond-servant  than  to  the  others,  and  told 
him  that  by  his  obedience  to  his  master  he  did  the 
will  of  his  heavenly  Father.  Liberty  is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  blessings  ever  bestowed  upon  man- 
kind, and  yet  the  sweetest,  and  therefore  it  has  been 
limited  with  all,  and  trusted  to  but  few,  of  the  human 
race. 

God  seemed  to  have  set- this  country  apart  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  kings,  despots,  and  monarchs, 
that  the  white  race  are  capable  af  self-government, 
and  that  this  constitutional  liberty  was  conditionally 
intrusted  even  to  "We,  the  people"  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  is,  we  must  respect  each  other's  con- 
stitutional rights  without  condition,  or  there  can  be 
no  real  civil  or  constitutional  liberty.  A  libertine 
is  opposed  to  all  restraint  by  law  or  otherwise  upon 
himself,  and  cares  nothing  for  the  rights  of  others. 
Abolitionists  advocate  the  freedom  of  all  men,  with- 
out the  slightest  respect  to  their  capability  for  self- 
government  or  usefulness  in  the  world,  or  the  safety 
of  the  rights  of  others.  They  declare  that  the  Afri- 
can slave  was  included  in  the  Declaration  of  our 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  139 

fathers  when  they  said  "  We,  the  people"  This  brings 
us  up  to  the  question  of  the  competency  or  safety  of 
the  negro  race  to  mingle  in  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

I  say  the  African  is  unfit,  and,  therefore,  would  be 
unsafe,  even  if  admissible,  to  take  any  part  in  this 
government,  either  municipal  or  general.  No  people 
are  fit  for  self-government,  or  to  mingle  with  "  the 
people"  in  government,  who  are  generally  inclined  to 
idle,  lazy,  and  dissipated  habits.  I  think  I  am  as 
well  acquainted  with  the  habits  and  nature  of  the 
negro  as  most  men.  I  have  spent  about  twenty-six 
years  of  my  time  in  the  slave  States,  and  twenty- 
eight  years  in  the  free  States.  No  man,  I  presume, 
feels  a  greater  degree  of  sympathy  for  the  African 
race  in  the  United  States  than  I  do.  They  have 
always  been  objects  of  pity  to  my  mind ;  and  I  de- 
sire here  to  apologize  for  a  remark  I  made  in  my 
feeble  speech,  on  the  23d  ult.,  at  the  great  mass  meet- 
ing in  the  Statehouse  Yard,  when  I  spoke  of  them 
as  "  stinking  negroes."  It  was  a  slip  of  the  tongue 
under  excitement,  and  it  was  not  said  out  of  any  ill 
will  to  the  negroes.  I  do  not  blame  them*for  the 
troubles  we  are  now  in  with  our  southern  brethren. 
They  have  had  no  agency  in  the  terrible  calamities 
that  now  surround  us.  Hypocrites  and  infidels  have 
plunged  us  into  this  ungodly  war  with  our  own  race 
and  kinsmen,  under  a  feigned  love  for  the  poor,  un- 
fortunate Africans,  that  they  may  the  sooner  destroy 
them ;  for  no  man,  having  a  proper  Christian  sym- 
pathy for  them,  would  advocate  their  freedom  in 
this  country.  The  negro  race  is  not  fit  for  self- 


140  AFKICAN  SLAVERY. 

government.  They  are  incapable,  in  this  country 
and  all  others,  to  manage  a  government  as  a  republic, 
or  even  partly  so.  I  know  we  are  told  that  they 
have  been  kept  down  by  being  made  slaves  to  the 
white  people.  This,  at  a  glance,  might  seem  to  be 
so ;  but  when  we  come  to  look  at  the  whole  black 
race,  here  and  elsewhere,  we  shall  see  that  slavery 
has  not  degraded  the  African,  but  greatly  elevated 
Him  in  the  scale  of  civilization  and  the  domestic  and 
social  relations  of  this  life ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
freedom  has,  as  a  general  thing,  degraded  and  hea- 
thenized the  African  race  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

There  is  an  experiment  now  undergoing  a  trial  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  called  the  Liberian  Colony,  of 
some  promise,  which  has  my  warmest  sympathies 
and  strongest  desires  that  it  may  prove  a  complete 
success,  and  redound  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
complete  freedom  and  civilization  of  all  the  descen- 
dants of  Canaan  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  But  I 
confess  that  this  hope  is  without  warrant  in  sacred 
prophecy;  for  there  is  not  the  slightest  hope  of 
supremacy,  or  even  of  temporal  freedom,  for  the  Ca- 
naanites  in  this  world  given  in  the  sacred  Scriptures. 
I  may  discuss  the  moral  question  of  slavery,  if 
agreeable  to  you,  hereafter;  but  the  fitness  of  the 
negro  for  universal  freedom,  and  his  claims  for 
equality  with  "  We,  the  people"  are  all  I  propose  to 
discuss  under  the  heading  of  these  articles. 

What  are  the  natural  habits,  disposition,  or  ambi- 
tion of  the  African  race  in  this  country  ? 

Their  habits  are  laziness  and  negligence.  They 
will  not  work,  if  they  can  help  it,  under  any  circum- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  141 

stances,  except  to  prevent  starvation.  They  cannot 
be  made  to  think  of  any  wants  beyond  the  present, 
and  will  not  provide  for  the  future.  "When  they,  by 
chance,  make  a  dollar,  they  at  once  cease  work  until 
it  is  gone.  They  will  not  labor  for  wages,  if  they 
can  get  food  without  it,  and  they  will  undergo  any 
amount  of  suffering  by  deprivation  rather  than  en- 
gage at  constant  manual  labor  for  the  comforts  of 
this  life.  I  am  told  this  is  because  they  are  kept 
down  by  the  prejudice  of  color,  slavery)  and  other 
wickedness  of  the  white  people.  This  I  deny  as 
being  generally  true.  There  are  instances,  no  doubt, 
of  such  oppression.  To  prove  my  assertion  I  will 
give  a  single  case  that  I  know  to  be  true,  with 
names  and  location,  and  will  hold  myself  ready  to 
prove  that  it  is  a  complete  illustration  of  nineteen- 
twentieths  of  all  the  free  negroes  in  this  country. 

My  father  was  a  farmer  in  Prime-Hook  Neck, 
Cedar  Creek  Hundred,  Sussex  County,  Delaware. 
He  owned  a  negro  woman  named  Mill.  She  was  an 
excellent  slave.  David  Hazzard,  Esq.,  a  merchant 
and  farmer,  who  lived  at  Milton,  about  four  miles 
distant,  and  still  lives  there,  owned  a  slave  named 
Jacob.  Jacob  and  Mill  got  married,  and  Jacob 
usually  came  to  see  his  wife  on  Saturday  afternoon 
and  remained  until  Monday  morning.  My  father 
was  at  Milton  one  clay,  when  Mr.  Hazzard  proposed 
to  him  that  if  he  would  set  Mill  free,  he  (Mr.  H.) 
would  set  Jake  free.  My  father  agreed  to  it  on  the 
spot.  The  arrangement  was  effected  at  once,  and 
their  freedom  lawfully  established.  They,  while 
slaves,  were  sober  and  useful  to  their  masters ;  but 


142  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

as  soon  as  the  knot  was  slipped  that  bound  them  to 
their  masters,  a  change  was  apparent.  Jake  at  once 
left  his  home,  and  came  to  my  father's  and  took  a 
seat  by  his  beloved  companion,  and  there  they 
basked  in  the  pleasures  of  this  life — both  ceasing  to 
labor,  but  not  to  live.  My  father  finally  told  them 
they  must  get  themselves  a  house  and  take  care  .of 
themselves,  and  told  Jake  that  if  he  would  go  and 
choose  a  lot  near  the  cedar  swamp,  by  an  old  apple 
orchard,  he- should  have  an  acre  of  ground,  and  he 
would  lend  him  tools  and  teams,  and  give  him  the 
timber  to  build  himself  a  good  house.  The  reply 
was,  "  Sank  you,  Mass  John,  I  do  'em."  Jake  took 
an  axe  on  his  shoulder  and  started  for  the  cedar 
swamp,  or  woods,  as  he  had  his  choice,  to  cut  enough 
for  his  house  complete  and  to  pay  for  sawing,  as  the 
mills  sawed  timber  on  shares,  and  one  less  than  a 
mile  distant.  Jake  spent  the  day  in  chopping  away 
the  bushes  around  the  large  cedar  trees ;  but  that 
was  all  he  did  that  day,  except  to  make  up  his  mind 
that  it  would  be  labor  to  fell  the  trees  and  get  them 
to  the  mill.  He  came  back,  and  father  asked  him  how 
he  was  getting  along.  "  Oh,  good,  Mass  John."  The 
next  day  he  took  his  axe  and  started  off  full  speed ; 
but  instead  of  going  to  cut  the  timber  he  went  to 
John  Smith's  mills  to  see  about  the  sawing.  There 
he  found  a  large  pile  of  oak  slabs  that  were  useless 
to  the  owner,  and  asked  Mr.  Smith  to  give  them  to 
him  to  build  his  house.  His  request  was  granted, 
and  back  he  came  for  the  team  to  haul  them.  After 
that  was  done  he  commenced  his  building  operations, 
and  the  first  thing  he  did  was  the  digging  of  a 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  143 

trench  around  the  size  he  wanted  his  house,  which 
was  about  twelve  feet  square,  and  dug  about  eighteen 
inches  deep,  and  cut  his  slabs  off)  with  an  axe,  about 
nine  feet  long,  and  sat  them  in  the  trench  around, 
leaving  them  about  seven  feet  and  a  half  high,  and 
leaving  an  opening  for  a  door,  but  no  window.  He 
peaked  them  up  at  the  ends  for  the  pitch  of  the  roof. 
He  then  put  a  pole  across  for  the  ridge,  and  laid 
poles  the  other  way  for  rafters,  and  covered  them 
with  brush  for  laths  and  oak-leaves  for  shingles,  and 
begged  some  cullen  boards  at  the  mill,  out  of  which 
he  made  a  door,  and  cut  the  soles  out  of  a  pair  of 
old  shoes  for  the  hinges,  and  nailed  them  on  with  cut 
nails.  He  had  no  chimney  or  fire-place,  but  left  a 
hole  open  in  the  roof  to  let  the  smoke  out.  He  laid 
slabs  in  one  corner,  with  the  flat  side  up,  on  cross 
pieces,  for  a  bed,  which,  I  believe,  never  had  any- 
thing on  them  but  an  old  ragged  quilt  to  soften  the 
oak  slabs.  The  dining-table  was  made  in  about  the 
same  style,  and  out  of  the  same  material.  They 
built  their  fire  at  one  end,  on  the  ground,  and  piled 
dirt  against  the  slabs  to  keep  them  from  taking  fire. 
Oak  leaves  were  plenty  in  the  woods,  and  he  could 
patch  his  roof  at  any  time ;  but  when  the  snow  came, 
with  a  strong  wind,  it  would  be  nearly  as  deep  in- 
side as  out.  His  chairs  and  shelving  were  all  of 
rough  oak  slabs;  and  there  they  commenced  life 
together.  My  mother  gave  them  some  bed-clothes 
and  a  little  assortment  of  the  necessary  articles  for 
housekeeping,  and  I  believe  Governor  Hazzard  did 
the  same.  They  at  this  time  were  each  about  twen- 
ty-four years  of  age.  That  was  forty-four  years 


144  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

b 

ago,  and  there  they  live  until  this  day,  and  have 
raised  several  children  in  that  miserable  smoke- 
house, not  half  as  good  as  my  mother's  hen-house  for 
an  in-dwelling  for  human  beings.  I  suppose  there 
is  scarcely  a  piece  of  wood  in  the  house  now  that 
was  first  put  there,  the  entire  house  being  replaced 
time  and  again  with  patches.  I  believe  his  acre  of 
ground  has  never  been  sufficiently  fenced  to  keep 
the  cattle  and  hogs  out  of  the  house,  as  the  single 
door  of  the  house  has  had  to  be  kept  constanly  open, 
winter  and  summer,  for  light,  there  being  no  window 
in  the  establishment. 

Jacob  had  worked  at  hewing  house  frames  for  his 
master  while  a  slave;  but  my  father  offered  him 
white  oak  timber  enough  to  saw  him  a  frame,  and 
to  pay  for  sawing,  if  he  would  cut  the  trees,  and  ce- 
dar trees  enough  for  siding  and  shelving,  and  to  pay 
for  sawing,  and  his  board  until  he  should  get  it 
finished ;  but  he  was  too  lazy  to  embrace  the  oppor- 
tunity to  make  himself  and  family  comfortable  for  a 
long  life ;  and  there  they  still  live  in  that  miserable 
hut,  not  even  fit  for  reptiles  of  the  lowest  grade. 
The  last  -time  I  saw  them,  their  eyes  looked  to  be 
almost  completely  smoke-dried  out.  If  they  had 
built  the  right  kind  of  a  house,  their  old  masters 
would  have  furnished  it  and  made  them  comfortable ; 
but,  instead  of  that,  they  have  dragged  out  a  mise- 
rable existence,  for  about  forty -five  years,  in  smoke, 
filth,  and  deprivations  of  the  worst  kind. 

This  is  a  strong  figure,  but  nevertheless  true,  and 
it  is  an  average  case  of  a  vast  majority  of  all  free 
negroes  in  the  world.  The  only  idea  of  freedom 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  145 

they  have  is  to  live  without   labor,  which  I  shall 
undertake  to  prove  in  next  week's  number. 

Now,  do  you  not  think  that  Jacob  and  Mill  would 
have  seen  a  thousand  times  more  pleasure  had  they 
remained  slaves  until  this  day?  Only  look  at  it 
without  prejudice  against  the  only  place  designed 
for  that  race  in  this  world  among  the  white  race. 

LETTER    III. 

IN  a  former  article  I  stated  a  few  facts  on  the 
capability  or  fitness  of  the  African  race  for  freedom 
and  self-government,  under  a  republican  form  like 
ours.  I  now  proceed  to  give  further  evidence  of 
their  unfitness  for  freedom  and  equality  with  "  We, 
the  people." 

I  gave  a  short  history  of  a  single  family  who  were 
set  free  by  their  master,  who  believed  they  would  do 
well,  from  the  fact  that  they  were  both  such  superior 
servants.  They  could  not  have  been  made  to  believe 
that  the  end  of  their  servitude  would  be  the  end  of 
their  usefulness  and  happiness  in  the  world;  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  great  confidence  that  all  had  in 
them,  it  was  so.  And  so  it  has  been  with  nineteen- 
twentieths  of  all  that  have  been  or  ever  will  be  set 
free. 

The  Rev.  Mr. ,  of  South  Carolina,  owned  a 

large  number  of  slaves  and  a  large  plantation.  He 
became  dissatisfied  with  the  business,  as  he  was  an 
itinerating  Methodist  preacher,  and  finally  made  up 
his  mind  to  give  them  (the  slaves)  the  plantation,  and 
rid  himself  of  the  responsibility  and  vexation,  and 
13 


146  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

give  himself  entirely  up  to  his  holy  and  favorite 
calling,  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  He  was  advised 
of  his  fatal  error,  but  had  such  an  unlimited  confi- 
dence in  all  his  slaves  that  he  could  not  be  made  to 
believe  that  they  would  prove  faithless  and  betray 
their  trust.  As  they  had  been  so  faithful  to  him  in 
all  things,  he  consummated  the  arrangement,  and 
took  his  leave  for  an  unlimited  time,  a  year  being 
the  time  of  each  engagement.  He  had  not  been 
gone  long  before  he  received  letters  from  old  neigh- 
bors, advising  him  that  things  about  his  plantation 
were  changing  very  fast,  and  not  for  the  better;  but 
he  thought  it  was  a  mere  prejudice  against  his 
scheme  of  freeing  his  slaves,  it  being  the  only  plan 
by  which  it  could  be  done,  for  the  master  had  to 
appear  as  their  owner  at  law,  or  they  would  be  taken 
up  and  sold  by  the  sheriff  to  the  highest  bidder. 
He  paid  no  attention  to  the  first  letter,  nor  to  the 
second  nor  third;  but  within  a  year  he  received 
such  information  as  fully  satisfied  him  that  he  was 
in  danger,  and  made  up  his  mind  to  repair  to  his 
former  home;  for  his  neighbors  informed  him  that 
unless  he  speedily  returned  and  took  charge  of  his 
negroes  he  would  have  damages  enough  to  pay  to 
take  all  his  negroes  and  plantation  too,  several  of 
them  being  already  in  prison  for  plundering  their 
neighbors'  plantations.  When  he  arrived  he  found 
the  plantation  completely  swept  of  poultry,  hogs, 
and  cattle ;  even  the  work  oxen  and  cows  had  been 
killed  and  eaten  up,  or  sold  for  rum.  His  fencing 
and  outhouses  were  demolished  and  used  for  fire- 
wood, and  even  the  fanning  utensils  were  mostly 


AFRICAN"  SLAVERY.  147 

burnt  up,  and  lie  found  himself  a  ruined  man,  for 
lie  was  answerable  for  all  the  damages  to  his  neigh- 
bors. They  started  fair  in  the  spring  and  planted 
the  crops,  but  that  was  the  end  of  their  ambition 
and  enterprise,  their  only  idea  of  freedom  being  to 
eat,  drink,  sleep,  and  nothing  else. 

Many  similar  experiments  have  been  tried  in  all 
the  southern  States  with  similar  results. 

I  am  told  this  was  owing  to  their  being  under 
laws  that  were  prejudicial  to  their  freedom:  yet 
nineteen-twentieths,  if  not  the  ninety-nine  hun- 
dredths  of  all  the  slaves  who  have  been  freed  have 
resulted  in  evil  to  the  liberated  negro,  and  has 
brought  them  into  disrepute  and  to  want,  and  mad« 
them  a  dead  weight  to  society  and  a  clog  to  the 
wheels  of  general  prosperity;  for  the  free  negroes 
have  never  paid  their  way  in  this  country,  nor  never 
will.  Their  Makej  never  intended  them  for  rulers 
or  leaders  in  this  nation,  nor  in  any  way  to  be  placed 
on  an  equality  with  "We,  the  people;"  and  no  true 
Christian  who  can  read  the  Word  of  God  will  ever 
advocate  the  universal  emancipation  of  the  negroes  in 
this  country,  and  their  equality  with  the  people  of  the 
United  /States  ;  nor  will  any  true  Constitutional  Union 
man  who  has  had  opportunities  to  know  the  nature  of 
the  African  negro,  and  made  use  of  them,  as  it  was  his 
duty  to  do,  wish  them  freed  and  placed  on  an  equality 
with  the  rulers  of  this  land. 

Now  let  us  see  if  the  case  I  gave  last  week,  and 
the  above,  was  owing  to  the  laws  of  the  slave  States 
in  which  they  occurred. 

.In  1819,  if  I  forget  not,  two  thousand  acres  of 


148  AFRICAN"  SLAVERY. 

land  was  procured  in  Brown  County,  Ohio,  on  which 
four  hundred  negroes  were  placed,  and  made  the 
legal  owners  of  the  property.  In  a  very  short  time, 
says  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  "they  became  too  lazy 
to  play."  Their  vicious,  lazy,  thieving  habits  was 
so  apparent  that  the  neighbor's  became  much 
alarmed ;  and  efforts  to  remove  them  was  strongly 
talked  of.  The  depredations  and  criminal  law  suits 
of  that  spot,  was  nearly  equal  to  the  whole  county 
outside  of  that  colony.  The  farmers  for  miles 
around  could,  nor  cannot,  keep  any  portable  valua- 
bles unless  they  put  them  under  lock  and  key  at 
night.  And  these  depredations  have  increased  from 
the  beginning  of  that  colony  even  more  than  the 
increase  of  the  population  of  the  negroes,  and  the 
whole  colony  abounds  in  filth,  stench,  licentiousness, 
laziness,  theft,  drunkenness,  debauchery,  rags,  and 
profanity ;  and  they  are  of  no  use  in  the  neighbor- 
hood whatever,  but  a  dead  weight  and  a  great  curse 
to  all  the  people  for  miles  around.  An  Ohio  senator 
spoke  of  them  as  follows : — 

"The  black  settlement  in  Brown  County  was 
made  in  1819,  the  original  number  located  there 
being  four  hundred  and  twenty,  for  whom  about 
two  thousand  acres  of  land  were  procured.  From 
the  commencement  there  has  been  no  improvement 
in  their  morals  or  social  habits.  Idleness  and  vice 
are  the  prevailing  concomitants.  The  cost  of  crimi- 
nal prosecutions  has  been  very  large  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  and  keeps  up  a  pro- 
portionate average  with  their  increase.  In  the 
vicinity  of  this  settlement  there  is  not  a  family 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  149 

within  two  miles  who  are  not  kept  in  constant  dread 
of  depredations  or  injury  of  some  sort.  Every 
valuable  that  can  be  removed  is  stolen.  They  are 
absolutely  compelled*  to  confine  themselves  to  what 
is  merely  necessary  to  support  life,  for  anything 
beyond  from  hand  to  mouth,  must  inevitably  fall  a 
prey  to  lurking  vagrants,  who,  far  worse  than  a  gang 
of  gypsies,  are  hovering  around  seeking  literally 
what  they  may  devour.  And  this  state  of  things  is 
not  confined  to  any  section  alone ;  it  extends  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  wherever  this  class  of  the 
population  is  permanently  located." 

Now  this  is  in  the  great  free  State  of  Ohio,  where 
the  shackles  of  slavery  has  never  been  known.  And 
I  believe  Brown  County  is,  or  was,  a  great  abolition 
county.  And  yet  this  terrible  state  of  things  has 
been  produced  by  the  presence  of  this  small  colony 
of  the  black  race  there.  I  ask,  that  if  four  hundred 
and  twenty  in  a  neighborhood  has  produced  such  a 
state  of  society,  what  would  four  thousand  do  in  a 
neighborhood,  all  being  free.  And  suppose  further ; 
that  there  was  one  free  negro  in  that  State  for 
every  five  or  six  white  people,  what  would  be  the 
condition  of  things  in  that  great  State  ?  It  cannot 
be  said  that  they  have  not  an  equal  chance  in  Brown 
County  to  prosper  and  be  improved.  The  fact  is, 
the  negroes  have  never  made  a  particle  of  improve- 
ment in  a  state  of  freedom.  There  is  not  one  single 
spot  on  the  globe  that  has  been  in  any  way  im« 
proved  by  them  only  in  a  state  of  slavery.  They 
have  never  been  of  any  use  to  the  world,  or  to 
human  society,  except  as  slaves,  not  even  to  them- 
13* 


150  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

selves.  But  as  slaves  they  have  been  very  useful 
to  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  no  people  have 
been  more  useful  of  the  same  number.  But  that 
moment  you  free  them,  their  Usefulness  ceases.  If 
this  is  not  so,  tell  me  where  and  when  it  was  not. 
Show  me  one  spot  on  the  earth  where  they  have 
been  of  any  benefit  to  themselves  or  any  body  else, 
except  in  the  Liberian  Colony,  which  I  admit  pro- 
duces a  slight  promise.  But  did  they,  through  their 
own  enterprise,  make  the  discovery,  and  try  the  ex- 
periment? You  know,  they  did  not,  nor  had  they 
any  hand  in  it.  But  it  was  started  by  white  mis- 
sionaries from  other  countries.  It  was  soon  discovered 
that  white  men  could  not  live  there  long  enough  to 
do  any  good.  And  black  men  were  taken  as  an  ex- 
periment, and  it  was  found  that  they  lived,  and  had 
their  health  as  well  there,  or  even  better  than  here. 
There  seems  to  be  providential  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  that  may  be  their  place,  and  God  may  in- 
tend to  raise  them  up  to  some  notice  or  usefulness  in 
the  world.  But  if  African  slavery  had  never  had  an 
existence  in  civilized  states,  the  African  colony  could 
never  have  had  an  existence ;  and  if  slavery  should 
now  be  abolished  in  all  civilized  and  Christian 
states  in  the  world,  and  left  free  and  equal,  the 
whole  Liberian  colony  will  glide  into  barbarism  in 
a  short  space  of  time;  for  you  may  depend,  they 
will  cease  to  immigrate  to  that  country  if  freed  and 
placed  on  an  equality  with  " We,  the  people"  here, 
and  elsewhere.  And  when  fresh  accessions  cease  to 
arrive  there  from  civilized  and  Christian  states,  that 
colony  will  be  doomed  to  barbarism.  I  will  not 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  151 

discuss  the  present  prospects  of  that  colony,  only  to 
say  it  is  yet  an  experiment  quite  as  much  as  it  was 
at  the  beginning.  I  will  say  here,  that  whatever  my 
opinions  may  be  ab(3ut  the  competency  of  Africans 
to  govern,  I  am  a  friend  of  that  experiment,  and 
want  it  to  go  on  to  the  end  of  time;  although  God 
has  not  given  the  slightest  encouragement  on  the 
pages  of  inspired  prophecy  for  them  to  expect  any 
honors  as  rulers,  outside  of  slavery. 

But  the  Scriptures  are  totally  silent  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  emancipation.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say 
there  is  no  hope  for  them  for  freedom  in  their  own 
native  Africa ;  but  I  will  say,  there  is  no  hope  for 
them  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  and  every  attempt 
to  raise  them  to  authority  will  only  make  their  con- 
dition incalculably  worse  than  in  slavery  to  southern 
masters. 

But  I  will  say  again,  the  southern  slaves  are  the 
happiest  class  of  people  I  have  ever  seen  in  all  my 
travels  in  North  or  South  America  or  the  "West  In- 
dies, and  I  believe  they  are  the  happiest  people  on 
the  face  of  the  globe,  except  where  abolitionists  have 
disturbed  their  peace,  and  twenty  times  more  moral, 
civil,  respectful,  happy,  and  well  behaved  than  any 
colony  or  state  of  free  negroes  I  have  ever  seen. 

Now,  if  the  African  race  in  the  United  States  have 
principles  or  fitness  for  self-government,  how  is  it 
they  have  not  shown  it  in  some  shape  or  form? 
They  have  been  here  over  two  hundred  and  forty 
years,  among  the  best  men,  and  the  best  examples, 
and  influences  the  sun  has  ever  shone  upon,  and  yet 
not  the  slightest  appearance  of  fitness  for  rulers, 


152  AFRICAN  SLAYEKY. 

leaders,  or  teachers  lias  been  perceptible  among 
them.  If  I  am  wrong,  show  me  how,  when,  and 
where,  and  I  will  give  in.  Can  any  spot  be  found 
in  the  United  States  that  has  been  improved  by  the 
free  negroes  locating  thereupon  ?  Can  you  tell  of 
a  colony  of  them  who  have  emigrated  to  the  west- 
ern territories,  to  clear  up  the  lands,  to  make  them- 
selves permanent  and  comfortable  homes  ?  Or  has 
one  ever  done  so?  "Where  are  they  to  be  found, 
either  many  or  few,  taking  the  lead  in  any  enter- 
prise of  worth  or  hope,  that  would  induce  any  man, 
or  set  of  men,  of  common  sense  and  moral  worth  to 
follow  in  their  wake  ?  How  many  African  negroes 
can  there  be  found,  who  are  free,  that  have  had  fore- 
thought enough  to  save  up  something  for  a  rainy 
day  ?  Don't  point  out  to  me  mulattoes  and  quad- 
roons ;  I  know  some  few  of  them  have  done  so — 
but  they  are  comparatively  few  and  very  far  between. 
I  know  a  great  many  negroes  get  themselves  a  house 
to  live  in ;  and  what  sort  of  a  house  is  it  when  got  ? 
See  the  description  of  Jacob's  house  I  described  in 
my  previous  article,  and  you  have  a  description  of 
twenty-nine-thirtieths  of  all  the  houses  got  up  by 
that  class  of  persons.  If  you  will  investigate  the 
subject  without  prejudice  or  favor,  you  will  find  that 
just  so  far  as  they  depart  from  pure  Anglo-Saxon 
llood,  just  in  that  ratio  they  lose  the  principles  and 
qualifications  for  self-government. 

It  may  be  said  that  I  have  given  a  case  that  was 
originated  while  Brown  County  was  a  wild  forest, 
and  therefore  the  consequences  occurred  alluded  to 
above.  To  show  that  this  was  not  the  case,  I  will 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  153 

give  one  more  example  that  took  place  under  the 
direction  of  the  great  apostle  to  negro  freedom,  Ger- 
ret  Smith,  of  New  York  State :  .Gerret  Smith,  Esq., 
is  a  gentleman  of  talents,  of  respectability,  and  great 
wealth  and  uncommon  liberality,  and  an  abolitionist 
of  the  Garrisonian  school.  He  had  such  an  unlim- 
ited sympathy  and  confidence  in  the  poor  African 
that  he  determined  to  set  them  on  their  feet,  that  the 
world  might  see  that  they  were  fit  to  be  classed  with 
We,  the  people.  And  he,  true  to  his  principles,  put 
his  hand  into  his  pocket  to  put  the  negroes  where 
the  world  would  see  that  the  negroes  were  honest 
men.  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  lay  my  .hand  on  the 
history  of  this  case,  for  it  tells  the  story  more  vividly 
than  any  other.  Mr.  Smith  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  western  New  York,  large  enough  (if  I 
forget  not)  for  one  thousand  small  farms  (though  I 
am  not  sure  about  the  number),  and  deeded  them  in 
fee  to  that  number  of  negroes,  and  gave  each  one  a 
nice  little  start,  and  no  doubt  felt  that  he  had  done 
a  good  thing.  But,  to  his  great  disappointment,  in 
a  very  few  years  every  farm  passed  out  of  their 
hands  for  provisions  and  rum ;  and  the  condition  of 
society  was  even  worse  than  in  Brown  Co.  colony, 
and  Mr.  Smith  was  compelled  to  concede  that  he 
had  done  them  more  hurt  than  good;  for  he  had 
made  a  selection  to  take  charge  of  those  farms  of  the 
best  and  safest  negroes  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

I  do  not  say  these  things  out  of  any  ill  will  to  the 
poor  unfortunate  negroes;  I  am  their  friend,  and 
would  defend  their  civil  and  moral  rights  to  the 
very  death :  but  I  must  state  facts  just  as  they  are, 


154  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

if  the  sky  falls.     No  man  can  do  them  any  good  by 
saying  what  is  not  true,  and  in  that  way  place  them 
in  a  false  position  before  tire  world ;  this  would,  in 
the  end,  only  degrade  them  the  more.     If  abolition- 
ists would  state  facts  with  their  apparent  zeal  for  the 
poor  negroes,  they  would  do  them  great  good ;  but 
by  stating  falsehoods,  and  placing  them  in  a  false 
light  before  the  ignorant,  they  have  produced  all  the 
miseries  and  woes  the  poor  Africans  have  ever  been 
subjected  to  in  this  country.     If  all  the  ministers  of 
the  Christian  Church  had  only  have  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  their  great  exemplar,  St.  Paul,  of  the  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  this  whole  nation  would  now 
abound  in  almost  paradisiacal  glory  from  one  end  to 
the  other ;  and  the  white  people  would  this  day  be 
rejoicing  from  Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  and  the  slaves  would  be  singing, 
shouting,  and  dancing  all  over  the  slave  States,  and 
brother  would  not  now  be  at  war  with  brother,  and 
destroying  each  other  worse  even  than  hyenas.    You 
may  sum  up  all  ot  our  present  calamities,  hatreds, 
malice,  and  heart-burnings,  and  all,  all  are  traceable 
to  the  preaching  of.  abolition  sermons  in  the  sacred 
desk  that  was  dedicated  to  the  preaching  of  the  glo- 
rious Gospel  of  Gpd  our  Saviour.     There  is  not  a 
fire-eater  nor  a  rebel  in  the  south  who  is  not  the 
legitimate  offspring  of  abolition  Gospel  preachers. 
They  are  the  v/orst  enemies  the  poor  slaves  ever  had 
in  this  world. 

For  an  intimation  of  Egyptian  bondage  or  ancient 
slavery  of  the  negroes,  I  will  refer  the  reader  to  an 
article  in  your  last  Saturday's  issue,  from  the  New 


AFRICAN  SLAVEEY.  155 

York  Journal  of  .Commerce,  6th  page;  it  will  pay  for 
reading.  The  fact  that  the  African  never  has  made 
any  improvement,  or  did*any  good  outside  of  slavery, 
is  to  my  mind  a  sufficient  reason  why  he  should  not 
be  set' free.  More  on  the  subject  next  week. 

LETTER    IV. 

IN  my  two  last  communications  I  gave  a  gene- 
ral view  of  the  condition  and  habits  of  the  freed 
and  free  people  of  color  in  the  United  States.  I 
would  like  now  to  give  a  general  history  of  the 
slaves,  but  I  will  only  say  here,  that  they  are  the 
happiest  persons,  as  a  class,  that  I  have  ever  seen; 
and  the  stories  of  the  cruel  treatment  by  their  mas- 
ters, as  a  general  thing,  is  as  false  and  slanderous  as 
it  would  be  to  say  the  devil  is  a  truthful  and  good 
spirit.  Such  stories  have  been  invented  by  aboli- 
tionists and  infidels  to  break  up  this  great  and  glori- 
ous Christian  government,  becar  it  had  the  impress 
of  divine  goodness  and  wisdom  upon  it.  I  have  no 
doubt  there  are  cases  of  bad  treatment  to  slaves  by 
some  masters.  But  they  are  as  few  in  ratio  as  such 
cruelties  are  in  the  free  States,  even  to  children  by 
parents.  And  there  are  but  few  fealf  so  devilish  as 
a  large  amount  of  treatment  to.  apprentice  and  servant 
girls  in  our  northern  cities.  But  I  will  proceed 
with  the  free  negroes. 

I  was  in  New  Granada,  South  America,  in  1856, 
where  the  negroes  have  not  only  their  universal 
freedom,  but  the  reins  of  government  exclusively 
in  their  hands.  I  will  give  a  short  account  of  the 


156  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

condition  of  things  in  that  State  across  the  Isthmus 
to  the  ancient  city  of  Panama.  I  say  ancient  be- 
cause it  took  its  start  in  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment of  South  America  by  Spain.  There  is  no 
State  in  the  world  that  excels  the  State  of  New 
Granada  in  a  fertile  and  productive  soil.  They  have 
no  winter  frost  or  chilling  winds  to  impede  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  And  it  would  excel  the  richest 
parts  of  North  America  in  the  super-abundance  of 
every  product  except  wheat  and  rye.  There  is  no 
country  on  the  globe  that  would  pay  the  farmer  or 
planter  better  than  that  country.  It  abounds  in  all 
that  is  good,  even  the  precious  metals.  There  are  no 
seasons,  but  it  is  one  perpetual  season.  It  matters 
but  little  what  time  of  the  year  planting  is  done. 
Two  crops  of  corn  per  year  could  be  raised  off  of 
the  same  ground,  and  plenty  of  time  between  to 
clear  off  the  soil.  Most  of  the  fruit  trees  are  always 
in  bloom,  and  have  fruit  on  them  in  every  stage 
from  the  blossom  to  the  ripe  fruit.  Sugar  cane 
grows  spontaneously,  and  wherever  it  formerly  got 
a  hold,  it  still  holds  the  soil,  and  its  growth  is  so 
powerful  that  it  overruns  everything  else,  and  holds 
the  soil  supreme.  And,  perhaps,  there  is  not  better 
cane  in  the  whol*  world,  and  stands  so  thick  that  a 
rabbit  would  have  great  trouble  to  make  his  way 
through  it.  In  short,  there  is  no  State  on  the  face 
of  the  globe  that  offers  superior  advantages  to  the 
planter  or  farmer. 

And,  notwithstanding  all  this,  there  is  not  one 
acre  of  ground  in  the  entire  State  of  New  Granada 
in  any  condition  of  cultivation  that  I  ever  saw. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  157 

They  plant  in  some  places  (I  know)  among  the 
bramble  and  bushes,  but  cultivation  is  not  known. 
I  saw  but  one  lot  of  corn  there  in  all  my  travels,  and 
I  walked  over  that  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
The  bramble  and  undergrowth  was  so  great  that  I 
could  seldom  reach  ground  with  my  feet.  They 
planted  the  corn  without  hoe,  spade,  or  plow ;  they 
reached  their  arms  down  through  the  bramble  and 
undergrowth,  and  scratched  the  corn  under  the 
ground  with  their  fingers  without  the  slightest  order, 
leaving  an  indefinite  number  of  grains  in  a  hill, 
say  five  to  ten ;  and  that  is  the  last  time  they  see  it 
until  they  go  to  gather  the  corn.  It  grows  up 
through  the  btamble  and  bushes  to  an  enormous 
height,  with  slim  stock,  'not  larger  than  a  man's 
thumb,  and  each  stock  bears  a  nubben  of  corn  two 
or  three  inches  long.  And  when  they  gather  the 
corn,  they  pull  up  the  stocks,  and  replant  at  the 
same  time. 

That  country  was  under  the  government  of  Spain 
about  three  hundred  years,  and  has  been  in  the 
hands  of  negroes  I  believe  nearly  forty  years. 

I  never  saw  a  road  in  the  State,  that  a  mule  could 
travel  safely  on,  nor  a  cart  road  outside  of  the 
villages.  • 

The  appearance  of  many  abandoned  plantations 
are  yet  visible  all  over  the  State,  and  everything 
like  industry  has  disappeared;  but  not  one  single 
vestige  is  apparent  in  any  part  of  the  State  except 
in  the  seaport  towns,  by  white  men.  In  fact,  every- 
thing has  sunk  to  ruin,  total  ruin,  since  the  negroes 
were  emancipated  and  took  possession  of  the  govern- 
14 


158  AFBICAN  bLu\VKKY. 

rnent,  and  that  State,  with  its  rich  fertile  soil,  is 
almost  a  total  loss  to  the  world. 

The  inhabitants  are  so  low  in  the  moral  scale  and 
civilization  that  their  condition  is  indescribably  low. 
There  are  some  foreign  quadroons,  about  the  larger 
seaport  towns  that  do  better ;  but  even  these  have 
no  right  to  claim  a  place  in  civilization.  A  majority 
of  the  inhabitants  all  over  the  State  are  of  mixed 
breed,  but  in  every  case  the  whites  have  been  re- 
duced to  the  level  of  the  negro,  and  booth  together 
into  the  vats  of  all  abominations.  There  is  not  one 
particle  of  ambition  or  enterprise  among  them ;  they 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are 
one  continual  mass  of  licentiousness«and  vulgarity. 
They  even  all  go  naked  at  almost  all  times,  even  to 
church  (for  they  are  all  professing  Christians).  The 
women  and  men  strip  themselves  together  to  bathe, 
and  any  number  can  be  seen  walking  and  standing 
together  on  the  rocks,  high  and  dry,  in  a  perfect 
state  of  nudity.  They  are  as  the  beasts  of  the  field, 
without  shame  or  modesty.  They  have  no  sympathy 
for  their  offspring. 

The  few  white  people  that  have  been  born  there 
are  as  high  above  them  in  intelligence  and  all  moral 
requirements  for  respectability  as  it  is  possible  for 
one  set  of  men  to  be  above  another.  You  will  hear 
them  talking  about  State  affairs,  and  lamenting  over 
the  condition  of  society,  the  great  chances  of  pros- 
perity, the  immense  wealth  in  their  soil,  and  how 
rich  they  could  be  in  a  short  time  if  they  could 
work  in  the  sun,  but  they  cannot ;  neither  can  the 
mulatto;  nor  would  he  if  he  could.  lie  is  more 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  159 

delicate  than  the  white  man.  But  the  negro,  who  is 
improved  and  strengthened  by  labor  in  jthe  sun  in 
that  climate,  will  not  now,  nor  never  did,  nor  never 
will  work  without  a  master ;  and  unless  that  great 
country  shall  be  reduced  to  negro  slavery  under  the 
pure  white,  that  rich  and  alluvial  soil  is  not  only 
now  lost,  but  will  be  through  all  time  to  come,  un- 
less God  shall  change  that  climate  to  suit  oar  nature, 
or  the  principles,  spirits,  ambition,  and  enterprise  of 
the  negro  to  that  of  the  white  man,  without  changing 
his  nature,  that  is  now  suited  to  the  torrid  zone  of 
the  world  only. 

I  know  the  quadroons  or  mixed  breeds  are  a  much 
better  people  tfian  the  negroes,  but  they  are  alto- 
gether inadequate  to  successfully  maintain  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  and  hardly  a  government 
of  any  kind.  They  are  nearly  all  very  treacherous, 
and  not  worthy  of  trust.  I  wish  some  of  our  abo- 
litionists would  go  down  to  that  country  and  spend 
six  months  among  the  negroes ;  I  think  they  would 
hesitate  some  time,  if  they  had  a  trust  to  give  out, 
to  decide  which  they  would  bestow  it  upon,  the 
monkeys  or  the  negroes.  Let  them  see  the  Jamaica 
negroes  at  Aspinwall,  who  have  gone  there  to  get 
clear  of  wholesome,  lawful  restraint,  and* I  think 
they  will  never  want  to  behold  another  free  negro, 
much  less  to  have  them  on  an  equality  with  "  We,  the 
people11  of  the  United  States. 

Now  those  were  raised  on  the  Island  of  Jamaica ; 
they  were  born  free,  and  some  of  them  can  read, 
write,  and  speak  English,  Spanish,  and  some  French. 

I  will  close  this  article  with  a  short  account  of 


160  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

what  I  saw  of  free  negroes  at  and  about  Kingston, 
Jamaica,  from  where  many  of  the  pure  negroes  have 
gone  to  New  Granada,  South  America.  I  have  often 
been  referred  by  abolitionists  to  the  glorious  effects 
of  emancipation  in  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  and  even 
told  by  some  that  the  emancipated  slaves  soon  be- 
came the  ruling  spirits  of  the  island,  and  that  they 
were  at  the  head  of  all  good.  It  is  true,  they  are 
lawfully  on  an  equality  with  the  white  people,  but 
in  appearance,  and  all,  all  of  the  requisites  for  pros- 
perity and  government,  are  as  far  beneath  the  white 
people  as  the  earth  is  beneath  the  heavens.  Were 
it  not  for  the  standing  army  and  the  British  bay- 
onets that  glitter  in  that  sunny  clime  at  all  times, 
the  whites,  ere  this,  would  have  been  exterminated, 
if  it  had  been  in  the  power  of  the  negroes  to  have 
done  so.  The  negroes  are  somewhat  better  there 
than  in  South  America,  but  it  is  owing  entirely  to 
the  strict  wholesome  laws  and  the  British  soldiers 
that  can  be  seen  at  all  times  patrolling. 

Since  the  negroes  were  set  free  by  an  act  of  Par- 
liament, in  1833,  they  have  sunk  down  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  degradation  that  is  possible  under  good 
restraining  laws.  They  will  not  work  for  wages; 
in  consequence  of  which  a  great  many  of  the  best 
plantations  on  the  island  have  been  abandoned,  or 
turned  into  grazing  farms.  The  stories  of  any  im- 
provement whatever  there,  by  the  emancipation  act, 
is  as  false  as  the  declaration  of  the  serpent  to  Eve, 
when  he  said  "  Thou  shalt  not  surely  die."  If  the 
English  government  could  have  it  to  do  over  again, 
the  negroes  would  never  be  made  free  by  the  laws 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  161 

of  that  nation.  '  Many  of  the  leading  journals  of 
Great  Britain  have  been  warning  us  for  years  to  be 
careful  how  we  take  any  further  steps  towards  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  this  country,  and  refer 
us  to  the  ruined  condition  of  that  island  by  emanci- 
pation, and  the  complete  degradation  and  entire  ruin 
of  the  negroes  there. 

Some  of  the  quadroons  do  better  than  the  negroes, 
'  and  a  few  of  them  own  small  plantations ;  but  no 
such  thing  is  to  be  found  among  the  negroes ;  they 
are  a  dead  weight  to  progress.  It  was  an  expermient 
when  the  emancipation  bill  passed.  The  English 
people  thought  they  would  work  for  wages,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  altogether  better  for  the  planter 
to  hire  his  labor  than  to  own  it;  but  the  sequel 
proved  the  sad  mistake  when  too  late. 

It  would  have  been  a  thousand  times  better  for  us 
if  there  never  had  been  a  free  negro  in  this  (that  was 
a)  glorious  land.  The  whole  civilized  world  have 
been  paying  the  penalty  of  British  emancipation 
ever  since  it  took  place,  in  high  prices  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  British  West  India  Islands,  and  the 
partial  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  this  country. 
If  universal  emancipation  should  be  effected  here, 
woe  be  unto  us,  and  the  slaves  too. 

LETTER     V. 

IN  my  first  two  articles  I  portrayed  the  principles, 

disposition,  nature,  pride,  and  ambition  of  the  negro 

race  in  this  country.     In  my  third,  that  of  the  same 

race  in  South  America  and  the  Island  of  Jamaica. 

14* 


162  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

The  facts  I  have  given  ought  not  to  require  any 
application  by  me,  and  will  not  by  those  who  are 
truly  constitutional  union  men,  and  do  not  value  the 
emancipation  {and,  by  that,  the  degradation  and  ruin 
of  the  entire  black  race  in  this  country),  more  than 
the  liberties  and  prosperity  of  "  We,  the  people"  I 
say  I  have  given  the  true  character  of  the  free  ne- 
groes wherever  they  may  be  found  on  the  face  of 
this  globe.  Taking  this  in  comparison  with  the 
great  usefulness  of  that  race  while  slaves,  ought  to 
satisfv  every  good  man  that  they  were  destined  for 
slaves  or  bond-servants,  and  nothing  else. 

Though  God  has  not  declared  anywhere  in  his 
revelation  that  they  never  are  to  be  free,  yet  in  Lev. 
xxv.  46,  he  says  to  their  masters  that  they  shall  be 
their  inheritance,  and  their  children's  forever ;  which 
I  have  shown  in  the  two  chapters  on  the  moral  ques- 
tion of  slavery.  As  I  have  said,  there  seems  to  be 
some  encouragement  for  them  in  Liberia,  on  the 
coast  of  Africa.  And  if  they  ever  are  to  have  free- 
dom, it  will  be  there  and  nowhere  else.  But  while 
they  remain  among  white  people,  they  are  to  be 
slaves,  or  they  will  be  in  a  far  worse  condition ;  and 
any  nation  who  shall  attempt  to  free  them,  and  place 
them  on  an  equality  with  the  "people"  will  be  made 
to  suffer  just  to  the  extent  they  shall  do  that  wicked 
act.  See  the  effect  on  Mexico,  Central  America,  New 
Granada,  and  all  the  British,  French,  and  Spanish 
provinces.  While  the  two  or  three  former  have  suf- 
fered by  constant  revolutions  and  civil  commotions 
for  allowing  an  equality  with  that  race,  the  latter 
have  suffered  the  loss  of  three-fourths  of  the  products 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  163 

of  those  provinces,  and,  in  addition  to  that,  they  have 
been  compelled  to  keep  a  stronger  standing  army  to 
keep  the  negroes  in  their  place,  and  have  had  to'  pay 
double  price  for  all  the  products  of  those  islands  that 
require  constant  agricultural  labor  to  bring  them 
forth,  because  the  negroes  will  not  engage  in  useful 
pursuits  and  manual  labor  when  free,  and  there- 
fore they  are  of  no  use  in  the  world,  but  a  dead 
weight  upon  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  any 
nation  which  shall  venture  in  such  a  forbidden  path. 

Look  at  the  present  condition  of  the  free  people  of 
color  all  over  this  country.  See  them  in  this*  city, 
where  we  have  about  thirty  thousand.  If  you  have 
never  looked  into  the  question,  I  think  you  will  be 
perfectly  satisfied  that  they  would  be  better  off  in 
slavery,  even  if  the  institution  is  as  bad  as  Wendell 
Phillips  says  it  is.  You  will  not  find  two  thousand 
out  of  the  thirty  doing  anything  for  a  livelihood. 
And  even  most  of  these  are  engaged  in  pursuits  that 
are  of  no  use  to  the  general  prosperity  of  the  city 
whatever,  and  the  balance  are  far  worse  than  no 
account. 

What  are  we  as  a  nation  and  "the  people"  now 
suffering  for  attempting  to  lay  violent  hands  upon 
the  institution  of  slavery?  I  will  say  again  (and 
hope  it  may  never  ,be  forgotten  by  the  reader),  that 
whenever  universal  freedom  to  the  negroes  shall  be 
established  in  this  country,  our  Constitutional  Union 
with  our  liberties  will  end,  and  the  judgments  of  God 
will  rest  upon  us,  perhaps  through  all  time  to  come. 
You  may  laugh  me  to  scorn  for  this  idea.  No  doubt 
Adam  thought  it  a  very  small  matter  to  taste  a  deli- 


164  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

cious  fruit  from  a  tree  that  he  had  to  prune  and  dress 
that  he  was  forbidden  to  eat  by  his  Creator,  yet  see 
the  effect  upon  the  whole  human  family.  If  Adam 
had  kept  that  simple  little  command,  we  should  now 
all  be  one  race  and  one  people,  and  there  would 
have  been  no  negroes,  nor  abolitionists,  or  any  other 
pest  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  not  even  death.  Be 
careful;  "God  will  not"  always  "be  mocked." 

But  some  men  tell  me  that  slavery  is  wrong,  and 
must  be  abolished,  irrespective  of  consequences  to 
either  race.  That  it  is  our  duty  to  free  them,  and 
allow^them  to  become  our  equals  in  all  the  relations 
of  this  life.  For,  say  they,  we  were  all  " created  eq^^al>n 
and  therefore  are  all  one  flesh  and  blood.  And  we 
must  loose  their  bonds,  and  let  them  go  free. 
When  the  dangers  of  emancipation  are  pointed  out 
some  of  those  saints  say,  let  them  go  to  the  devil,  we 
have  nothing  to  do  with  that ;  others  say,  we  will 
drive  them  all  out  of  the  country,  and  if  they  at- 
tempt to  resist,  we  will  exterminate  them  all.  Now 
those  are  some  of  the  men  who  have  such  great  con- 
scientious scruples  about  slavery ;  even  so  great,  that 
they  say,  rather  than  it  shall  not  be  destroyed,  let 
our  great  government  be  broken  up,  and  a  monarchy 
established  or  anarchy  reign  through  all  time.  Now, 
we  are  all  equally  interested  in  this  matter,  whether 
we  were  born  and  live  in  a  free  or  slave  State.  Our 
destinies  for  all  time  are  at  stake  alike.  The  people  of 
Maine  and  Florida  will  suffer  the  same.  We  are  all 
one  people,  and  are  equally  responsible  for  whatever 
may  come  upon  us.  Therefore  let  us  reason  to- 
gether, and  look  this  matter  fair  in  the  face.  If  we 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  165 

stick  to  our  fanaticism,  and  refuse  to  weigh  the  facts 
that  can  be  seen  and  understood  by  every  man,  just 
so  sure  as  we  do  not  do  this,  just  so  sure  we  shall  be 
overthrown,  and  our  glory  will  be  taken  from  us 
and  given  to  some  other  land. 

God  has  given  us  that  unfortunate  race,  that  they 
might  be  made  useful  to  the  whole  civilized  world. 
They  were  first  brought  to  this  country  while  we 
belonged  to  Great  Britain,  and  there  is  no  room  to 
doubt  that  God  designed  it,  for  every  circumstance 
proves  this  idea.  And  it  was  done  to  bring  that 
race  into  usefulness,  in  the  only  way  it  could  be 
done.  It  is  wonderful  that  any  man  who  has  read 
their  history,  both  sacred  and  profane,  cannot  see 
this,  for  our  Creator  commanded  that  every  man 
should  live  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  The  meaning 
of  this  is,  no  one  will  doubt,  that  every  man  should 
toil  in  some  form  for  the  fruits  of  life,  and  without 
it,  no  man  was  entitled  to  the  "penny." 

I  have  shown  unmistakably,  that  .the  African  race 
are.  a  dead  weight -on  society,  and  a  nuisance  in  the 
world,  in  a  state  of  freedom.  If  this  is  not  so, 
everywhere  (outside  of  Liberia,  which  is  yet  barely 
an  exception,  if  an  exception  at  all),  then  I  hope 
some  one  will  show  us  where  it  is,  and  in  what  part 
of  the  world,  and  how.  I  know  there  are  some 
individuals  who  do  better  than  others,  where  they 
are  surrounded  by  influences  so  powerful  that  they 
cannot  resist  them.  But  show  us  a  community 
of  colored  people  away  from  the  powerful  influ- 
ences of  the  watchful  perseverance  of  the  enter- 
prising whites,  who  have  set  one  single  example, 


166  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

that  would  be  safe  for  us  to  imitate.  What  have 
they  done  in  the  world  that  has  been  of  any  benefit 
to  mankind?  Where  and  when  have  they  by 
companies,  formed  colonies  to  clear  up  the  land  in 
our  western  wilds,  or  even  on  the  frontier  of  any 
State,  and  made  themselves  comfortable  homes,  and 
by  that  produced  anything  beyond  their  own  wants, 
or  even  half  that  amount  ?  Now  take  a  survey 
from  Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  show  us  the  group  or  colony  who  have 
done  any  good  for  mankind,  or  have  exhibited  the 
slightest  enterprise?  Where  are  their  inventions 
of  useful  implements,  of  husbandry,  or  any  of  the 
mechanical  arts?  Where  are  they  found  leading 
their  hosts  of  workmen  in  any  of  the  trades,  or 
manufacturing  operations  of  this  life,  or  any  of  the 
useful  arts  and  sciences?  ^Now,  without  one  cir- 
cumstance to  show  their  fitness  for  self-government, 
or  to  mingle  with  our  rulers,  or  even  to  take  care  of 
themselves  under  the  most  wholesome  laws  that 
mankind  ever  was  blessed  with",  where  all  their 
rights  are  fully  protected,  they  having  equal  access 
for  that  purpose,  with  us,  to  all  the  courts  of  justice, 
ought  we  to  set  them  free,  or  ought  they  to  be 
free,  while  they  are  so  exceedingly  useful  in  a 
state  of  slavery?  Was  it  not  madness  in  us  to 
plunge  ourselves  headlong  in  this  the  most  ungodly 
of  all  wars  which  have  preceded  it  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  was  laid?  No,  none  has  been 
more  terrible,  more  heart  rending,  or  more  wicked, 
and  all,  all  because  of  an  opposition  to  the  just  and 
wise  arrangements  of  the  great  Jehovah  to  govern 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  167 

his  people,  as  seerneth  him  good.  I  know  some  will 
laugh  at  this  idea,  especially  some  of  those  who,  it 
was  intended  by  the  Great  Spirit,  should  unite  all 
hearts,  and  cement  them  by  diffusing  his  own  ever- 
lasting love  among  the  people.  But,  alas!  they 
have  forgotten  the  pit  from  which  they  were  taken, 
mid  by  whom,  and  for  what  purpose,  and  let  false 
sympathy  and  fanaticism  take  possession  of  their 
hearts,  instead  of  that  unadulterated  love  that  makes 
a  man  justified  in  whatever  position  of  usefulness  he 
may  be  called  to  in  this  life.  And  instead  of  preach- 
ing Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  they  recommend 
their  hearers  to  go  forth  and  exterminate  eight 
millions  of  white  people  to  change  or  destroy  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  (that  it  is  in  the'  order 
of  God),  that  the  negro  may  be  the  white  man's 
equal,  which  is  clearly  forbidden  in  his  Great  Book, 
which  I  have  already  proven. 

I  wrote  this  and  the  three  previous  articles  for  the 
Press,  but  concluded  to  withhold  them  for  this  book. 
I  have  written  these  mostly  on  my  own  knowledge 
of  the  facts  given.  I  shall  now  publish  a  chapter  in 
which  I  have  given  an  array  of  testimony  to  show 
that  the  negro  or  African  race  ought  not  to  be  freed, 
and  that  they  are  physically  and  mentally  incompe- 
tent for  self-government.  My  testimony  will  be  from 
national  and  municipal  records,  and  official  reports 
from  abolition  missionaries,  travellers,  and  others. 
They  will  clearly  show  to  what  an  alarming  extent 
designing  men  have  deceived  the  people  on  this 
question. 


CHAPTEE    III. 

Statistical  evidence  of  the  ruinous  effect  of  negro  emancipa- . 
tion  to  the  whole  civilized  world. 

I  FEEL  it  to  be  my  duty  to  write  a  few  pages  on 
imports  and  exports,  and  illustrate  them  by  statis- 
tical facts,  which  more  than  sustain  me  in  all  I  have 
said  about  the  unproductiveness  of  the  free  and  the 
freed  negroes,  and  the  productiveness  of  negro  slaves. 
These  statistics  will  astonish  the  reader  more  than 
anything  I  have  said  in  this  book.  The  first  freed 
people  of  color  were  the  negroes  of  St.  Domingo, 
who  ultimately  freed  themselves  of  the  white  popu- 
lation by  an  indiscriminate  massacre  of  all  the  white 
people  on  that  island.  In  that  way  they  became  the 
sole  occupants  of  that  immensely  rich  soil. 

It  has  been  about  seventy  years  since  universal 
freedom  was  proclaimed  on  that  alluvial  island,  which 
I  think  was  in  1793;  therefore  I  will  begin  with  the 
exports  of  Hayti  in  1790,  three  years  before  negro 
freedom  was  obtained.  In  that  year  the  exports  of 
that  island  were  $27,828,000,  the  main  productions 
being  as  follows: — 

Sugar 163,405,000  Ibs. 

Coffee 68,151,000  " 

Cotton           .        .        .        .  6,286,000   " 

Indigo 930,000   " 

'    (168) 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  169 

About  thirty  years  after  freedom,  the  products  of 
that  rich  island  were  as  follows : — 

Sugar    .  .  32,800  Ibs.,  less  163,373,000  Ibs. 

Coffee    .  .  32,189,700   "       "       35,961,300   " 

Cotton  .  620,900   "       "      •  5,664,100   " 

Indigo  .  .  000,000   "       "        »  930,000   " 

I  will  here  remind  the  reader  that  coffee  grows 
without  labor,  it  being  an  a'rticle  of  spontaneous 
growth,  which  accounts  for  its  having  fallen  off  only 
a  little  over  one-half.  Now  sugar  and  indigo  have 
entirely  disappeared,  and  cotton  not  much  better. 
Logwood,  mahogany,  and  other  articles  of  sponta- 
neous growth,  which  require  no  labor  to  produce 
them,  are  the  only  articles  of  exportation  now. 
Coffee  grows  wild  (though  it  has  been  transplanted 
there),  and  therefore  requires  labor  to  gather  it  only, 
which  is  made  a  sporting  operation  or  frolic,  like 
huckleberrying  parties  retire  to  the  swamps  in  this 
country  sometimes.  See  about  sixty  years  after 
emancipation  on  that  island,  which  was  in  such  a 
high  state  of  cultivation  in  1790,  as  far  as  settled, 
and  then  ruled  entirely  by  white  masters.  In  1849 
we  have  the  latest  statistics  that  are  reliable  from 
i^i  fallen  star: — 

1849.  1790. 

.  Sugar        .        .               000  Ibs.  163,405,000 

Coffee        .        .    30,608,343   "  68,151,000 

Cotton       .        .         544,516   "  6,2^6,000 

Indigo       .        .               000   "  930,000 

It  seems  to  me  this  ought  to  be  enough  to  satisfy 
an  abolitionist,  even  of  the  Grarrisonian  stripe,  much 
more  Christian  men,  that  the  emancipation  of  the 
15 


170  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

negro  race  is  not  only  wrong,  but  a  great  moral,  social, 
and  political  evil.  In  or  prior  to  impartial  freedom 
on  this  island,  it  supplied  at  least  the  half  of  Europe 
\vith  sugar.  It  was  originally  a  French  colony,  and 
if  that  island,  with  the  negroes,  had  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  French  people  until  this  day,  it 
would  now  be  the  garden  spot  of  the  earth,  instead 
of  being  a  lost  and  'desolated  state.  The  negroes 
were  not  to  blame  for  this  change. 

The  French  people  themselves,  in  France,  had  be- 
come wild  on  the  subject  of  "impartial"  freedom, 
among  themselves  not  including  negro  slaves,  for 
they  were  not  considered  fit  for  anything  else  than 
slaves.  But  the  French  people  became  fanatical 
about  the  word  "slave,"  and  desired  to  strike  it  from 
the  statute  book.  The  quadroons  and  mulattoes 
took  hold  of  it,  and  determined  that  all  who  were 
possessed  of  their  blood  should  be  included  among 
the  "impartial"  freed  people.  Therefore  the  destruc- 
tion caused  by  the  blast  of  "impartial"  emancipation. 

Just  so  in  our  glorious  nation  and  country.  .  When 
the  Convention  met  in  1787  to  form  a  Constitution, 
that  we  might  have  a  more  perfect  Union  as  sove- 
reign States,  there  was  not  an  abolitionist  in  that 
Convention — no  one  thought  of  freeing  the  slaves, 
or  desired  to  free  the  negroes  in  the  southern 
States — yet  many  of  them  were  strongly  prejudiced 
against  the  foreign  slave  trade,  produced,  no  doubt, 
by  the  cruelties  practised  by  hard-hearted,  bad  men 
going  into  that  trade,  that  should  have  been  carried 
on  by  Christian  men  only.  Therefore  the  fanatical 
notions  about  the  word  slave  being  placed  in  our 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  171 

great  national  chart,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  "We,  the  people"  had  been  a  subordinate 
people,  held  by  a  tyrant  king,  and  of  whom  God 
said,  "  should  not  be  ruled  over  with  rigor."  There-  • 
fore  the  prejudice  that  prevailed  in  the  Convention 
against  the  word  slave  or  servant  being  emlipdied 
in  the  national  chart  of  the  United  States.  That 
prejudice  was  perhaps  the  beginning  of  our  downfall 
as  a  great  nation ;  for,  "  What  therefore  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder."  Matt.  xix. 
6.  That  national  Convention  did  not  intend  to  abo- 
lish slavery  at  any  time,  but  were  thrown  a  little  on 
the  other  extreme,  by  having  been  treated  like  slaves 
by  Great  Britain,  and  thinking  the  Constitution  could 
be  formed  so  as  to  secure  the  rights  of  the  people  to 
their  slave  property  without  naming  slavery  in  it. 
They  forgot  for  what  a  small  thing  Moses  was  de- 
prived of  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  marching  before 
the  Israelites  into  the  promised  land.  He  was  com- 
manded to  speak,  that  the  water  might  come  forth ; 
but  instead  of  that,  he  smote  the  rock  twice.  Num. 
xx.  Therefore  he  was  not  allowed  to  enter  the  land 
that  "flowed  with  milk  and  honey,"  but  was  buried 
in  "Mount  Nebo,"  on  the  borders  of  the  promised 
land. 

No  doubt  France,  England,  and  Spain  thought,  or 
mistook  the  omission  of  the  word  slave  in  our  chart, 
for  some  future  intention  of  abolishing  slavery  in  all 
the  States,  at  the  same  time  thinking  it  would  riot 
do  to  let  the  United  States,  who  had  just  emerged 
into  being,  take  the  lead  in  so  great  a  work.  In 
less  than  six  years  France  was  wild  on  the  subject 


172  AFEICAX   SLAVERY. 

of  freedom,  not  of  the  negroes,  but  of  their  own 
race,  and  half  or  mixed  breed.  Those  nations  did 
not  know  at  that  time,  that  the  end  of  slavery  was 
the  end  of  labor  with  the  African  race.  But  the 
French  see  how  it  is  now,  when  to  late.  If  the  French 
had  that  Island  now,  and  owned  all  the  negroes, 
instead  of  exporting  about  $28,000,000,  as  they  did 
in  1790,  they  would  now  export  at  least  $100,000,000 
worth  annually.  But,  alas!  what  is  it  now?  The 
nearest  that  it  can  be  got  »t,  at  this  time,  is  about 
$1,200,000.  The  French  had  it  up  to  $28,000,000 
when  the  negroes  took  possession.  Tfre  demand  for 
the  different  kinds  of  wood  is  twenty  times  as  much 
now  as  it  was  in  1790.  Emancipationists,  look  at 
this  before  you  go  any  further  in  your  mad  career. 

But  is  this  all?  Let  us  look  at  the  Island  of 
Jamaica,  which  is  yet  held  by  the  power  of  British 
bayonets  in  the  hands  of  white  men. 

(I  will  say  here,  the  statistics  I.  have  quoted  are 
from  the  "United  States  Commercial  Relations,"  vol. 
i.  pp.  561-2,  officially  reported  to  Congress.) 

This  Island  is  nearly  equal  in  fertility  to  Ilayti. 
There  have  been  falsehoods  enough  told  about  it  by 
abolitionists  to  sink  a  world  into  oblivion.  I  will 
give  one  statement  made  by  an  English  missionary 
in  the  Five  Points  mission  chapel  at  New  York  in 
the  fall  of  1856,  about  three  months  after  I  was 
at  Kingston,  Jamaica,  where  he  said  he  had  been 
laboring  for  many  years  as  a  missionary  sent  there 
by  the  Congregational ists  of  England,  if  I  remember 
right. 

His  sermon  consisted   in  an  alleged   history  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVEKY.  173 

the  great  benefit  emancipation  had  been  to  that 
Island,  and  to  the  negro  race  there.  I  thought  if  he 
was  a  sample  of  all  foreign  missionaries,  they  had  all 
better  be  called  home  and  put  to  hard  labor  in  the 
coal  pits  of  England. 

lie  said  the  negroes  had  become  leading  men  in 
every  good  enterprise  of  that  Island.  That  the  pro- 
ductions had  gradually  increased  every  year  since 
1833,  when  the  slaves  were  freed.  That  they  were 
the  leading  business  men  of  that  Island,  that  they 
were  nearly  all  property  holders,  and  many  of  them 
largely.  That  nearly  the  whole  Island  was  in  a  state 
of  dilapidation  and  ruin  in  1833,  but  now  every- 
thing was  in  a  most  prosperous  condition.  That  the 
city  of  Kingston  had  so  revived  and  increased  in 
beauty,  style,  and  wealth,  that  it  did  not  now  look 
like  the  same  place.  That  the  negroes  were  com- 
monly consulted  by  English  Lords,  on  plans  of 
government  for  the  Island.  And  that  many  of  them 
lived  in  palaces  of  beauty  and  comfort.  In  short, 
he  made  them  out  as  being  far  superior  to  any  other 
persons  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  This  seems  to  be 
the  common  declaration  of  nearly  all  abolitionists, 
and  it  would  appear  to  be  the  faith  of  the  Repub- 
lican party. 

The  island  of  Jamaica  contains  about  4,000,000  of 
acres,  and  was  prior  to  1833  in  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation, as  far  as  occupied,  at  which  time  the  slaves 
were  all  reduced  to  apprentices  for  five  years,  to  be 
freed  in  1838,  by  an  act  of  Parliament. 

I  will  now  give  a  few  statistics  and  reports  that 
will  satisfy  every  reader  that  that  missionary  knew 
15* 


174  '    AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

he  did  not  tell  the  truth.  I  will  quote  from  the 
Cyclopaedia  of  Commerce,  published  by  Harper  & 
Brothers,  of  New  York,  before  and  after  emanci- 
pation. 

PRIOR  TO  FREEDOM.  AFTER  FRErnosc. 

Years.        Value  of  exports.  Years.       Value  of  exports. 

1809,  $15,166,170        1853,    $4,186,380 

1810,  11,517,895        1854,    4,661,580 

Two  successive  years  of  exports  before  freedom, 
$26,684,065 ;  two  successive  years  of  exports  after 
freedom,  $8,847,960,  This  ought  to  satisfy  every 
white  man  in  the  world  that  the  negroes  ought  not 
to  be  free.  The  deficit,  $17,836,105.  I  have  taken 
the  above  about  twenty  years  before  and  twenty 
years  after  freedom,  so  as  to  be  clear  of  the  agitation 
of  the  question. 

The  bulk  of  products  of  Jamaica  in  1805 — 

Sugar 150,352  hhds. 

Rum      .        .        .        .        .        .        46,837  pnnch.  ^ 

Allspice 1,041,540  Ibs. 

Coffee 17,961,923     " 

This  was  prior  to  the  stoppage  of  the  importation 
of  slaves  to  the  island  of  Jamaica,  at  which  time 
agriculture  was  in  a  high  state  of  improvement. 
The  sugar  was  the  largest  crop  ever  produced  on 
that  Island.  So  the  following  table  will  show  the 
want  of  labor  in  the  sugar  culture  in  1834,  one  year 
after  slavery  was  abolished,  and  the  negroes  con- 
verted into  apprentices ;  but  they  at  once  ceased  to 
fear  their  masters,  and  consequently  to  labor  as  they 
previously  did,  and  sugar  requiring  an  immense 
amount  of  labor  and  care  to  produce  and  save  it, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  175 

therefore  see  as  follows  for  1834,  just  thirty  years 
after  the  above  crop  was  produced,  which  was  prior 
to  the  agitation  of  the  abolition  question^ 
In  1834,  exports  of  Jamaica — 

Sugar  84,756  hhds. 

Bum      .        .        .        .        .        .        32,111  punch. 

Allspice 3,605,400  Ibs. 

Coffee 17,725,731    " 

Eemember  that  coffee  and  allspice  are  of  spon- 
taneous growth,  and  therefore  labor  was  only  required 
to  gather  them,  which  is  very  light  work,  and  mostly 
done  by  women  and  children,  which  accounts  for 
those  two  articles  not  falling  off  proportionably  to 
the  others.  Coffee  ought  to  have  largely  increased, 
for,  like  the  allspice  tree,  it  takes  possession  of  aban- 
doned lands  soon  after  they  are  deserted,  and  grows 
without  cultivation. 

The  next  year  after  emancipation,  sugar  fell  off 
10,000  hhds, ;  coffee  fell  off  7,000,000  Ibs.,  and  this 
decrease  has  constantly  continued  until  1856,  when 
the  productions  of  Jamaica  were  as  follows : — 

Sugar    .        .'  .        .        .        25,920  hhds. 

Eum 14,470  punch. 

Allspice 6,848,622  Ibs. 

Coffee    .        .        .        ...        .    3,328,200     " 

I  will  compare  1856  with  1805,  and  I  wish  every 
abolitionist  would  look  at  it  with  a  single  eye  to  his 
and  his  own'country's  true  glory. 

1805.  1856. 

Eum    .     .          46,837  punch.  14,470  punch.      t 

Coffee  .     .  17,961,923  Ibs.  3,328,150  Ibs. 

Allspice    .     1,041,540   "  6,848,600   " 
Sugar  .     .        150,352  hhds.  25,920  hhds. 


176  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

This  table  shows  the  effect  of  emancipation  on  the 
Island  of  Jamaica  from  the  year  before  the  importa- 
tion of  slaves  was  prohibited  and  1856,  which  was 
twenty-three  years  of  the  glories  of  free  labor  with 
1856  inclusive.  Sugar  fell  off  124,432  hhds.,  rum 
32,367  puncheons,  coffee  14,633,773  Ibs.;  pimenta  or 
allspice  gained  5,807,060  Ibs. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  ought  to  be  more  than 
enough  for  every  lover  of  his  country.  Certainly 
no  Christian  man,  woman,  or  minister  will  ever  ad- 
vocate emancipation  after  looking  over  these  reports 
or  statistics,  which  are  from  the  most  reliable  sources, 
and  I  hope  they  may  be  thoroughly  investigated. 
In  a  very  short  time,  at  the  same  rate  of  decrease, 
the  Island  of  Jamaica,  that  while  under  slave  labor 
was  sufficient  to  supply  the  whole  United  States  with 
all  they  needed  of  those  products,  will  be  forever 
lost  to  the  world,  like  Hayti.  If  slave,  labor  had 
been  allowed  to  have  gone  on  until  this  day,  under 
proper  safeguards  and  protection  of  law,  instead  of 
their  only  producing  26,000  hogsheads  of  sugar, 
they  would  now  produce  250,000  hogsheads,  or 
425,000,000  pounds;  and  instead  of  3,328,150  pounds 
of  coffee,  they  would  now  produce  50,000,000  pounds; 
allspice  and  rum  in  the  same  ratio,  with  all  other 
products  of  that  island.  Sugar  would  not  now  be 
over  four  cents  a  pound,  and  coffee  not  over  six  cents, 
and  all  other  articles  in  proportion. 

I  am  reminded  by  my  abolition  friends  (exultingly) 
that  I  have  not  given  freedom  credit  for  the  large 
increase  of  pimenta.  Well,  the  increase  of  that  ar- 
ticle was,  according  to  the  table,  above  5,633,773 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  177 

pounds,  I  admit ;  but  that  fact  sustains  my  position 
as  strongly  as  any  other.  Allspice  or  punenta  grows 
in  the  mountains,  on  bushes  or  trees ;  therefore  no 
labor  is  required  to  produce  it;  to  gather  it  is  like 
child's  play ;  it  is  more  of  an  exercise  than  manual 
labor.  Thousands,  and  even  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  idle  negroes,  men,  women,  and  children,  daily 
resort  to  the  swamps  or  mountains,  for  sport,  in 
gathering  allspice,  which  is  a  darkish  red  looking 
berry,  similar  to  currants.  They  have  only  to  gather 
them  from  the  trees,  and  dry  them  in  the  sun;  (the 
tree  is  a  native  of  those  islands.)  It  requires  no 
manual  labor;  therefore  those  lazy  idlers  do  that 
because  it  is  more  of  a  frolic  than  labor,  and  it  pro- 
duces a  scant  livelihood  or  subsistence.  Nor  doel^R 
require  the  slightest  ingenuity  or  calculation  to 
gather  and  dry  them.  These  are  facts  that  fully 
account  for  the  increase  of  that  article. 

Coffee  is  not  a  native  of  those  islands,  but  has 
been  transplanted  there.  It  produces  better  by  cul- 
tivation ;  but,  once  introduced  into  suitable  soil  and 
climate,  it  spreads  like  the  allspice  tree.  It  does  not 
only  spread  in  the  mountains,  but,  with  the  allspice 
tree,  takes  possession  of  forsaken  lands,  and  grows 
in  a  very  short  time  to  a  producing  size,  and  is  con- 
sidered far  more  profitable,  and  pays  better  for  labor 
than  allspice.  But,  unfortunately  for  Sambo,  it  re- 
quires ingenuity,  labor,  and  great  care,  as  it  grows 
within  a  covering,  and  cannot  be  got  out  and  cleansed 
without  work ;  therefore  Sambo  and  his  hosts  say, 
"  me  no  like  'era,"  and  turn  away  to  the  allspice  trees. 

This  is  still  a  stronger  evidence  that  all  I  have 


178  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

said  in  the  several  chapters  I  have  written  on  the 
nature  of  the  negro  race  is  true  beyond  successful 
contradiction  or  proof  to  the  contrary,  that  the  ne- 
gro race  is  not  now,  never  has  been,  nor  never  will 
be  of  any  use,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  except  in 
slavery  to  white  men.  There  they  are  as  useful  a 
people  as  is  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  coffee  crop  of  Jamaica,  1813,  before  slavery 
was  abolished,  amounted  to  nearly  35,000.000  pounds. 
For  the  last  eight  or  nine  years  the  average  has 
been  about  5,000,000  pounds,  deficit  30,000,000 
pounds  per  annum,  and  in  1853  the  sugar  crop  was 
only  20,000  hhds.  So  you  see  I  have  not  taken  the 
extremes,  or  erred,  in  order  to  sustain  my  posi- 
i,  for  any  kind  of  an  error  would  injure  my  case. 

The  English  missionary  I  spoke  of  above,  said  a 
large  number  of  estates  had  been  abandoned  under 
slave  labor  and  considered  lost  to  the  world,  but 
now  had  been  bought  by  the  freed  negroes,  since 
emancipation,  and  brought-  into  use  by  them,  and 
that  the  freed  negroes  had  made  them  the  most  pro- 
ductive plantations  on  the  Island.  But  how  does 
his  story  stand  by  the  side  of  the  above  official 
reports  or  statistics  ?  He  was  not  the  only  man  that 
did  not  hesitate  to  say  what  he  knew  was  false. 
But  every  intelligent  abolition  preacher  does  the 
same  thing.  Let  us  look  at  the  abandoned  planta- 
tions a  little,  from  the  undoubted  reports,  and  we 
shall  see  that  that  preacher  (who,  by  the  way,  was  a 
very  talented  and  an  educated  man)  knew  better, 
(for  he  said  he  had  been  on  the  Island  twenty  years), 
and  all  others  who  preach  the  same  doctrine.  If 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  179 

they  do  not,  they  are*  not  fit  to  preach  the  gospel, 
and  ought  to  be  silenced  for  their  ignorance. 

I  quote  from  the  legislative  reports  of  that  Island 
as  follows :  "  Before  emancipation,  the  assessments  of 
property,  real,  and  personal,  was  over  $250,000,000. 
In  1850,  the  assessment  was  $57,500,000.  In  1851, 
it  was  reduced  to  $47,500,000,  and  Mr.  Westmore- 
land, in  the  Assembly,  said  it  was  believed  that  the 
falling  off  would  be  $10,000,000  more  in  1852. 
From  an  official  report  to  the  Assembly,  of  the 
number  and  size  of  the  plantations  abandoned 
during  the  years  of  1848,  '49,  '50,  '51,  and  '52  are 
as  follows: — 

Coffee  plantations  abandoned    .        .  96 

"  partly  abandoned  .         .  66  • 

Sugar  estates  abandoned 128 

"  "        partly  abandoned        ...       71 

The  number  of  estates  abandoned  the  five  years 
immediately  succeeding  emancipation  were  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Sugar  estates     .        .        .     145  168,000  acres. 

Coffee  plantations     .        .    467  189,000    " 

Add  to  this,  those  above  .    361  391,000    " 


This  gives  us  in  ten  years  973  748,000     "      lost, 

for  ever  lost. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  reliable  reports  or 
statistics  for  any  time  except  the  ten  years,  as  above. 
But,  rest  assured,  that  the  same  process  of  declen- 
sion has  been  going  on  steadily  from  1833  to  this 
the  30th  of  August,  1862,  at  about  the  same  rate; 
and  now  more  than  one-half  of  the  plantations  and 
sugar  estates  of  the  entire  Island  are  abandoned, 


180  AFRICAN   SLAYEOT. 

and  grown  up  in  allspice  an£  coffee  trees.  These 
plantations  employed  over  100,000  slaves,  who  were 
then  moral,  sober,  civilized,  industrious,  and  very 
useful.  But  now  are  useless,  degraded,  savage, 
vagabonds,  who  lay  about  in  the  sun,  or  lie  in  the 
shade  in  large  gangs,  many  in  a  state  of  nudity  and 
filth,  like  the  mosquitoes  and  flies  that  suck  the 
life  blood  out  of  those  who  are  their  only  hope  for 
any  state  of  happiness  in  this  world  without  permis- 
sion. They  seem  to  think  they  have  a  right  to  ap- 
propriate to  their  own  use  whatever  they  find  out 
of  sight  of  the  British  soldier.  They  are  the  most 
loathsome  beings  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  speak 
this  from  personal  knowledge  of  the  facts,  for  I  was 
arotmg  them  in  1856,  and  know  what  I  say  is  very 
true. 

I  have  been  cutting  from  official  reports  and 
statements  from  travellers  who  were  and  still  are 
emancipationists.  Some  of  the  latter  I  will  copy,  after 
giving  the  following  tables,  computated  from  statis- 
tics and  official  reports  (by  a  gentleman  who  is  as  well 
posted  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  West  India  Islands 
as  any  other  man  living,  and  I  hope  he  will  excuse 
me  for  taking  his  table  verbatim.  I  will  say  to  him 
I  have  written  manuscripts  enough  on  the  subject 
for  600  pages  12mo.,  and  had  I  published  them  one 
year  ago  when  ready,  I  might  have  thought  he  had 
borrowed  of  me.  But  as  I  still  have  the  work 
locked  up,  I  know  he  selected,  as  I  did).  It  clearly 
shows  the  contrast  between  free  negro  lalor  and  slave 
negro  labor,  and  I  hope  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  who  are  now  supporters  of  the  republican 


AFRICAN  SLAVEEY. 


181 


party  will  examine  these  statistics,  and  official  re- 
ports before  they  ever  give  another  vote  for  universal 
emancipation  in  this  country. 

"SLAVE"  NEGRO  LABOR. 

Years.        Ibs.  Sugar.            Ibs.  Coffee.  Ibs.  Cotton. 

British  W.  Indies,   1807,     636,025,643       31,610,764  17,000,000 

Hayti,                        1790,     163,318,810       76,835,219  7,286,126 


Total, 


809,344,453     108,445,983     24,286,126 


"FREE"  NEGRO  LABOR. 

Years.        Ibs.  Sugar.             Ibs.  Coffee.  Ibs.  Cotton. 

British  W.  Indies,   1848,     313,306,112         6,770,792  427,529 

Hayti,                        1848,     none  to  ex.       34,114,717  1,591,454 


Total,  313,306,112 

Free  Negro  Labor  Deficit,     496,038,341 


40,885,509       2,018,983 
67,560,474    22,267,143 


I  think  this  is  proof  enough  for  any  honest  man, 
and  much  more  a  Christian.  The  sugar  deficit  alone 
is  enough  to  produce  a  war  of  extermination  on  all 
abolitionists,  and  bring  the  Christian  Church,  which 
is  our  only  guide  and  safeguard  as  a  free  people,  into 
bad  repute  with  a  struggling  world ;  for  very  many 
of  her  strongest  and  most  powerful  ministers  have 
taken  the  lead  for  this  ruin  to  the  world,  and  burn- 
ing blast  to  our  peace  and  happiness,  perhaps  for- 
ever. Look  at  it,  and  you  will  see  the  deficit  in  one 
year  of  free  negro  labor  is  sufficient  to  supply  every 
man,  woman,  and  child,  black  and  white,  each  with 
over  sixteen  and  a  half  pounds  of  sugar ;  496,038,341 
Ibs.  of  sugar,  at  10  cts.  per  lb.,  is  $49,603,834.10. 
This  is  only  one  article  of  produce.  If  the  West 
India  Islands  and  if  Hayti  had  gone  on  by  slave  labor 
under  good  white  masters,  sugar  and  coffee  would 
16 


182  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

never  be  over  four  to  six  cents  per  pound,  and 
all  the  luxuries  of  those  islands  would  now  be 
as  accessible  and  attainable  by. every  poor  laboring 
man  as  they  are  now  by  the  rich.  The  whites  would 
have  been  exterminated  long  before  this,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  British  standing  army  constantly  in 
sight. 

Mr.  Underbill,  a  member  of  the  Jamaica  Assembly, 
an  abolitionist,  from  whom  I  have  already  quoted, 
speaks  of  Cuba,  where  slavery  still  exists,  and  those 
islands  where  it  does  not  exist,  as  follows.  Of 
Havana  he  says : — 

"  It  is  the  busiest  and  most  prosperous  of  all  the 
cities  of  the  Antilles.  Its  harbor  is  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  world,  and  is  crowded  with  shipping.  Its 
wharves  and  wareJwuses  are  piled  with  merchandise, 
and  the  general  aspect  is  one  of  great  commercial  ac- 
tivity. Its  exports  nearly  reach  the  annual  value  of 
nine  millions  sterling,  and  the  customs  furnish  an 
annual  tribute  to  the  mother  country  over  and  above 
the  cost  of  government  and  military  occupation. 
Eight  thousand  ships  annually  resort  to  the  harbor 
of  Cuba." 

Is  it  not  strange  that  Mr.  Underbill  did  not  at 
once  proclaim  to  the  world  his  great  mistake  in  sup- 
posing that  the  negro  was  the  white  man's  equal, 
and  not  fit  for  anything  else  than  a  slave  ?  Mr.  U. 
seemed  to  have  been  surprised  to  find  that  that  pro- 
slavery  island  was  still  what  Jamaica  was  before  the 
British  government,  by  that  insane  and  diabolical 
act  of  emancipation,  had  ruined  their  hopes  forever. 
To  find  Cuba  still  exporting  produce  to  the  amount 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  183 

of  $45,000,000  annually,  while  that  of  Jamaica  had 
fallen  from  nearly  as  large  an  amount  of  exportations 
to  $4,500,000  in  consequence  of  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  on  that  island,  see  the  following  illustration : — 

Jamaica  in  1809  ....  $15,166,000 

Cuba       "  1826  .        .        .        .  13,809,388 

Jamaica  "  1854  ....  4,500,000 

Cuba        "  1854  ....  31,683,731 

So  you  see  Cuba,  under  slaveholders  and  by  slave 
labor,  has  gradually  increased  from  1826  to  1854  from 
$13,809,388,  to  $31,683,731;  while  Jamaica  gradu- 
ally fell  off.  from  1809  to  1854,  from  $15,166,000,  to 
$4,500,000.  This  picture  certainly  will  surprise  a 
great  many  good  people  who  have  been  deceived  and 
totally  blinded  by  disunionists  and  traitors  of  the 
north,  or  free  States,  among  whom  are  the  most  talent- 
ed statesmen,  many  of  whom  are  now  in  power  under 
the  government ;  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  of  all  de- 
nominations, and  some  of  them  the  most  talented  and 
influential,  and,  like  the  English  missionary  alluded  to 
before,  they  say  in  their  pulpits  what  they  know  is 
false,  from  beginning  to  end,  with  such  grace  and  zeal, 
with  their  hands  on  their  hearts  and  eyes  rolled  into 
the  heavens,  in  such  way  that  their  hearers  believe 
them  sincere  and  truthful.  They  in  their  pulpits 
speak  of  Sharp's  rifles  as  being  the  best  gospel  for 
slaveholders,  and  talk  of  blowing  men's  brains  out 
with  (apparently)  as  much  relish  as  they  would  have 
for  a  fine  dinner.  Where  will  such  wretches  stand 
in  the  great  day  of  account? 

I  met  a  merchant  the  other  day,  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, with  whom  I  had  been  contending  at  times  on 


184  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  slave  question  for  twenty-eight  years.  He  tack- 
led me  on  the  prospects  of  universal  emancipation 
in  the  United  States ;  referred  me  to  Jamaica,  and 
said  it  was  enough  to  convert  any  man  who  was  not 
given  over  to  believe  a  lie,  that  he  might  be  damned. 
I  replied  that  I  thought  so  too.  I  believe  he  thought 
I  had  become  a  convert  to  his  expressed  opinion,  and 
he  went  on  to  tell  me  of  the  great  and  astonishing 
changes  that  had  taken  place  in  the  Island  of  Jamaica 
since  emancipation.  I  remarked  that  that  was  so. 
He  said  the  island  produced  at  least  three  times  as 
much  now  as  it  did  before  the  negroes  were  freed ; 
that  everything  on  the  island  had  improved  at  the 
same  rate.  I  just  looked  him  in  the  face  at  that 
point  and  said  I  was  on  that  island  in  1856,  and  said 
no  more.  He  was  certainly  embarrassed  at  the  remark, 

That  gentleman  could  be  trusted  on  all  other 
subjects  of  civil  or  natural  jurisprudence,  and  was 
as  clever  a  man  as  this  city  held.  I  regret  to  say 
he  was  buried  in  one  week  from  that  day. 

Will  any  one  say  that  that  gentleman  did  not 
know  that  what  he  said  was  not  the  truth?  Though 
a  member  of  meeting,  yet  he  was  a  boasting  infidel, 
and  hated  Christianity  with  a  perfect  and  bitter  ha- 
tred, and  became  an  infidel  because  the  Bible  sanc- 
tioned slavery. 

It  will  not  be  long  before  cultivation  will  entirely 
come  to  an  end  on  that  island.  The  island  contains 
about  4,000,000  acres,  and  its  white  inhabitants,  in 
1844,  was  15,776  ;  Africans,  293,128  ;  mixed  breed, 
63,500.  In  1861  the  whites  were  13,800 ;  Africans, 
346,300 ;  mixed  breed,  81,000.  So  you  may  see  by 


AFEICAN  SLAVERY.  185 

tliis  table,  that  it  will  not  be  long  before  this  island, 
like  its  sister,  Hayti,  will  be  totally  lost  to  the  world. 
To  know  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  look  at  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  colored  race  and  decrease  of 
the  white.  The  whole  number  of  inhabitants  is 
441,100 :  80,700  can  read,  and  50,700  can  write  (of 
the  80,700).  So  you  see  that  360,400  can  neither 
read  nor  write. 

In  Hayti  no  census  can  be  taken,  no  figures  can 
be  got,  because  the  negroes  have  got  free  and  full 
possession.  Abolitionist,  look  at  those  figures,  and 
think  over  this  interesting  subject  before  you  take 
another  step  towards  the  downfall,  of  this  great 
country.  Will  you  draw  that  awful  blight  of  negro 
emancipation  over  this  great  nation  that  will  fester 
in  the  hearts  of  future  generations,  and  cause  them 
to  rise  up  and  look  back  with  bitter  curses  upon  us. 
For  they  will  know  and  feel  the  effects  of  our  infi- 
delity and  disgraceful  wickedness  that  we  deliber- 
ately inaugurated  as  a  blighting  curse  upon  them. 
While  history  will  tell  them  of  the  glories  our 
fathers  inaugurated  and  handed  down  to  us.  But 
for  us,  with  all  those  figures  before  us,  and  right  in 
the  teeth  of  divine  revelation,  with  all  the  teachings 
of  that  Holy  Book  to  do  what  is  so  clearly  forbidden 
by  nature,  and  nature's  God,  is  more  than  I  can  ac- 
count for.  What  must  our  condemnation  be  in  the 
great  day  of  God ! 

I  will  now  give  a  few  extracts  from  prominent 
men.  An  English  writer,  writing  from  the  Capital 
of  Hayti,  says: — 

"  This  country  has  made  since  its  emancipation  no 
16* 


186  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

progress  whatever.  The  population  partially  live 
upon  the  produce  of  the  grown  wild  coffee  planta- 
tions, remnants  of  the  French  dominion.  Properly 
speaking,  plantations  after  the  model  of  the  English 
in  Jamaica,  or  the  Spanish  in  Cuba,  do  not  exist 
here.  Hayti  is  the  most  beautiful  and  most  fertile 
of  the  Antilles.  It  has  more  mountains  than  Cuba, 
and  more  space  than  Jamaica.  Nowhere  the  coffee 
tree  could  better  thrive  than  here,  as  it  especially 
likes  a  mountainous  soil.  But  the  indolence  of  the 
negro  has  brought  the  once  splendid  plantations  to  decay. 
They  now  gather  coffee  only  from  the  grown  wild 
trees.  The  cultivation  of  the  sugar  cane  has  entirely 
disappeared,  and  the  Island  that  once  supplied  the 
one-half  of  Europe  with  sugar,  now  supplies  its  own 
wants  from  Jamaica  and  the  United  States." 

Mr.  E.  B.  Underbill  was  sent  out  to  Hayti  by  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  of  London.  He  was  an 
abolitionist  of  the  Thompson  stripe;  after  making 
many  excuses  for  Cuffee,  for  his  having  ruined  that 
Eden  of  this  world,  was  compelled  to  give  the  fol- 
lowing history : — 

We  passed  by  many,  or  through  many  abandoned 
plantations,  the  buildings  in  ruins,  the  sugar  mills  de- 
cayed, and  the  iron  pans  strewing  the  road-side,  cracked 
and  broken.  But  for  the  law  that  forbids,  on  pain  of 
confiscation,  the  export  of  all  metals,  they  would 
long  ago  have  been  sold  to  foreign  merchants.  Only 
once  in  this  long  ride  did  we  come  upon  a  mill  in 
use ;  it  was  grinding  cane,  in  order  to  manufacture 
the  syrup  from  which  tafia  is  made,  a  kind  of  inferior 
rum,  the  intoxicating  drink  of  the  country.  The 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  187 

mill  was  worked  by  a  large  over-shot,  or  water- 
wheel,  the  warter  being  brought  by  an  aqueduct 
from  a  very  considerable  distance.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  $>  few  banana  gardens  or  small  patches  of 
maze  round  the  cottages,  nowhere  did  this  magnifi- 
cent and  fertile  plain  show  signs  of  cultivation. 

"  In  the  time  of  the  French  occupation,  before  the 
Revolution  of  1793,  thousands  of  hogsheads  of  sugar 
were  produced;  now,  not  one,  all  is  decay  and  desolation. 
The  pastures  are  deserted,  and  the  prickly  pear 
covers  the  land  once  laughing  with  the  bright  hues 
of  the  sugar  cane. 

"The  hydraulic  works,  erected  at  vast  expense 
for  irrigation,  have  crumbled  to  dust. 

"  The  plow  is  an  unknown  implement  of  culture,  al- 
though so  eminently  adapted  to  the  great  plains  and 
deep  soil  of  Hayti. 

"A  country  so  capable  of  producing  for  export, 
and  therefore  for  the  enrichment  of  its  people — 
besides  sugar  and  coffee ;  cotton,  tobacco,  the  cacao 
bean,  spices,  every  tropical  fruit,  and  many  of  the 
fruits  of  Europe,  lies  uncultivated,  unoccupied,  and 
desolate. 

"  Its  rich  mines  are  neither  explored  nor  worked, 
and  its  beautiful  woods  rot  in  the  soil  where  they 
grow.  A  little  logwood  is  exported,  but  ebony, 
mahogany,  and  the  finest  building  timber  rarely  fall 
before  the  woodman's  axe,  and  then  only  for  local 
use.  The  present  inhabitants  despise  all  servile 
labor,  and  are  for  the  most  part  content  with  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  soil  and  forest." 

Mr.  Underhill  was  a  resident  Baptist  missionary, 


188  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

or  something  of  the  same  nature,  at  Hayti,  and  an 
abolitionist,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  respected  in  all 
he  says  on  the  subject.  Like  many  other  good  men, 
he  has  put  the  most  favorable  construction  <jn  all  he 
saw,  that  he  possibly  could  without  twisting  the 
truth,  as  you  will  see  above,  where  he  speaks  of 
"cottages."  This  naturally  impresses  the  mind  here 
with  the  idea  of  a  nice  little  house,  when  they  are 
nothing  but  the  most  miserable  thatch  cabins  with- 
out glass  windows,  and  they  have  earthen  floors. 

Mr.  II.  published  a  work  in  London,  entitled 
"The  West  Indies;  their  Moral  and  Social  Condi- 
tion," in  which  some  of  his  excuses  are  laughable 
for  the  degradation  of  the  negroes.  Yet  every 
abolitionist  ought  to  read  it. 

"  The  Vandoux,"  says  Mr.  Underbill,  "  meet  in  a 
retired  spot,  designated  at  a  previous  meeting.  On 
entering,  they  take  off  their  shoes,  and  bind  about 
their  bodies  handkerchiefs,  in  which  a  red  color  pre- 
dominates. The  king  is  known  by  the  scarlet  band 
around  his  head,  worn  like  a  crown,  and  a  scarf  of 
the  same  color  distinguishes  the  queen.  The  object 
of  adoration,  the  serpent,  is  placed  on  a  stand.  It  is 
then  worshipped,  after  which  the  box  is  placed  on 
the  ground ;  the  queen  mounts  upon  it,  is  seized  with 
violent  tremblings,  and  gives  utterance  to  oracles  in 
response  to  the  prayers  of  the  worshippers.  A  dance 
closes  the  ceremony.  The  king  puts  his  hand  on  the 
serpent's  box ;  a  tremor  seizes  him,  which  is  com- 
municated to  the  circle.  A  delirious  whirl  of  dance 
ensues,  heightened  by  the  free  use  of  tafia.  The 
weakest  fall  as  if  dead  upon'  the  spot.  The  baccha- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  189 

nalian  revellers,  always  dancing  and  turning  about, 
are  borne  away  into  a  place  near  at  hand,  where 
sometimes  under  the  triple  excitement  of  promis- 
cuous intercourse,  drunkenness,  and  darkness,  scenes 
are  enacted,  enough  to  make  the  impassible  gods  of 
Africa  itself  gnash  their  teeth  with  horror." 

I  have  said  in  a  former  chapter  that  the  negro 
race  might  be  raised  to  the  highest  state  of  civiliza- 
tion and  Christianity  they  are  capable  of,  under  the 
immediate  influence  of  the  best  Christian  white  men 
and  women  in  the  world,  and  then  leave  them  en- 
tirely to  themselves,  with  all  the  advantages  of  soil 
and  climate,  and  a  full  supply  to  start  on  equal 
footing  with  the  best  part  of  all  creation,  and  with 
both  the  moral  and  civil  governments  in  their  own 
hands,  then,  in  less  than  ten  years,  they  would  be  on 
a  level  with  the  most  degraded  and  savage  men  on 
the  earth.  God  himself  has  made  them  for  useful- 
ness as  slaves,  and  requires  us  to  employ  them  as 
such,  and  if  we  betray  our  trust,  and  throw  them  off 
on  their  own  resources,  we  reconvert  them  into  bar- 
barians, and  we  shall  be  compelled  to  atone  for  our  sin 
towards  them  through  all  time. 

I  have  given  enough  evidence  to  satisfy  any  true 
seeker  after  truth,  that  unconditional  freedom  to  the 
negro  race  is  not  only  a  great  moral  and  political 
wrong  inflicted  upon  them,  but  a  great  political  and 
financial  affliction  and  curse  to  the  whole  civilized 
world,  and  a  moral  evil  of  greater  magnitude  than 
any  before  introduced  among  men.  The  whole  civil- 
ized world  was  blessed  by  Hayti  while  in  the  hands 
of  white  men ;  but  those  blessings  stopped  short  by 


190  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

that  rich  and  beautiful  country  passing  into  the 
hands  of  the  negro  race ;  the  rich  man's  pocket  is 
heavily  taxed  in  high  prices,  and  the  poor  are  left 
in  want.  The  testimony  I  have  given  to  sustain  my 
position  in  reference  to  Ilayti  is  not  the  fiftieth  part 
I  have  in  hand ;  but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  enough. 

I  will  now  make  a  few  quotations  to  sustain  the 
statistics  I  have  given,  showing  the  rise  and  fall  of 
the  Island  of  Jamaica.  I  have  an  editorial  from  the 
London  Times  that  was  in  my  possession  before  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  nominated  for  the  Presidency ;  so  you 
will  see  that  the  civil  war  now  raging  in  the  United 
States  did  not  influence  it  either  way.  See  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  There  is  no  blinking  the  truth,  years  of  bitter  experience, 
years  of  hope  deferred,  of  self-devotion  unrequited,  of  prayers 
unanswered,  of  sufferings  derided,  of  insults  unresented,  of 
contumely  patiently  endured,  have  convinced  us  of  the  truth — 
it  must  be  spoken  out  loudly  and  energetically,  despite  the 
wild  mockings  of  howling  cant ;  the  freed  West  India  slave 
will  not  till  the  soil  for  wages;  the  free  son  of  the  ex-slave  is 
as  obstinate  as  his  sire.  He  will  not  cultivate  lands  which  he 
has  not  bought  for  his  own.  Yams,  mangoes,  and  plantains, 
these  satisfy  his  wants ;  he  cares  not  for  yours.  Cotton,  sugar, 
coffee,  and  tobacco  he  cares  but  little  for.  And  what  matters 
it  to  him  that  the  Englishman  has  sunk  his  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  on  mills,  machinery,  and  plants,  which  now  totter 
on  the  languishing  estate,  that  for  years  has  only  returned  him 
beggary  and  debt.  He  eats  his  yams,  and  sniggers  at  buckra. 
"We  know  not  why  this  should  be,  but  so  it  is.  The  negro  has 
been  bought  with  a  price — the  price  of  English  taxation,  and 
English  toil.  He  has  been  redeemed  from  bondage  by  the  sweat 
and  travail  of  some  millions  of  hard-ivorking  Englishmen. 
Twenty  millions  of  pounds  sterling — one  hundred  millions  of 
dollars — have  been  distilled  from  the  brains  and  muscles  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  191 

the  free  English  laborer,  of  every  degree,  to  fashion  the  West 
India  negro  into  a  free,  independent  laborer.  Free  and  inde- 
pendent enough  he  has  become,  God  knows,  but  laborer  he  is 
not;  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  never  will  be.  ^  He  will  sing 
hymns  and  quote  texts ;  but  honest,  steady,  industry  he  not 
only  detests,  but  despises."  (The  italicizing  in  all  these  quo- 
tations are  mine.)  % 

Have  I  said  anything  stronger  than  the  above? 
The  London  Times  makes  full  confession  of  its  errors. 
It  had  supposed  that  the  negroes  would  work  better 
for  wages  than  under  masters;  but,  Oh,  what  a  sad 
mistake;  for  they  never  would,  nor  never  will  labor 
without  white  masters.  And,  "woe"  be  unto  this 
great  country  whenever  all  the  negroes  are  freed. 
Besides,  freedom  is  the  end  of  civilization  to  the 
negro  race,  and  his  perpetual  overthrow  and  ruin ; 
and  God  will  hold  us  responsible  for  all  the  bad 
which  shall  grow  out  of  emancipation. 

I  will  make  another  quotation  from  an  English 
writer,  who  was  one  of  the  strongest  antislavery  men. 
Mr.  Anthony  Trollope  says,  in  a  book  he  wrote  on 
Jamaica,  and  from  which  the  following  was  quoted 
by  a  London  paper: — 

"A  servile  race,  peculiarly  fitted  by  Nature  for  the  hardest 
physical  work  in  a  burning  climate.  The  negro  has  no  desire 
for  property  strong  enough  to  induce  him  to  labor  with  sus- 
tained power.  He  lives  from  hand  to  mouth,  in  order  that  he 
may  have  his  dinner,  and  some  small  finery,  he  will  work  a 
little,  but  after  that  he  is  content  to  lie  in  the  sun.  This,  in 
Jamaica,  he  cati  very  easily  do,  for  emancipation  and  free 
trade  have  combined  to  throw  enormous  tracts  of  land  out  of 
cultivation,  and  on  these  the  negro  squats,  getting  all  that  he 
wants  with  very  little  trouble,  and  sinking  in  the  most  resolute 
fashion,  to  the  savage  state.  Lying  under  his  cotton-tree  he 


192  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

refuses  to  work  after  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  No,  tankee, 
massa,  me  tired  now ;  me  no  want  more  money.  Or,  by  the 
way  of  variety  he  may  say — no,  workee  no  more ;  money  no 
nuff;  no  workee  no  pay.  And  so  the  planter  must  see  his 
canes  foul  with  weeds,  because  he  cannot  prevail  on  Sambo  to 
earn  a  second  shilling  by  going  into  the  cane  field.  He  calls 
him  a  lazy  nigger,  and  threatens  him  with  starvation.  His 
answer  is  :  No,  massa ;  no  starve  now  ;  God  send  plenty  yam. 
These  yams,  be  it  observed,  on  which  Sambo  lives,  and  on  the 
strength  of  which  he  declines  to  work,  are  grown  on  the 
planter's  own  ground,  and  probably  planted  at  his  own  expense. 
There  lies  the  shiny,  oily,  odorous  negro  under  his  mango-tree, 
eating  the  luscious  fruit  in  the  sun.  He  sends  his  black 
urchin  up  for  a  bread-fruit,  and,  behold,  the  family  table  is 
spread.  He  pierces  a  cocoa-nut,  and  lo !  there  is  his  beverage. 
He  lies  on  the  ground  surrounded  by  oranges,  bananas,  and 
pine  apples.  Why  should  he  work;  me  no  workee  to-day;  me 
no  like  workee,  just  um  little  moment." 

This  witness  more  than  sustains  me  in  all  I  have 
said  about  the  negro  in  the  United  States  and  else- 
where. I  have  admissions  enough  made  by  anti- 
slavery  men  to  fully  satisfy  me  that  I  am  right  on 
both  the  moral  and  civil  question  of  slavery,  even  if 
I  had  never  seen  any  wrong  produced  by  emancipa- 
tion. I  have  not  given  the  strongest  testimony  I 
have  in  my  possession  by  a  great  deal.  I  have  made 
no  quotations  from  men  who  were  not  anti-slavery 
men.  I  will  give  one  more  from  the  same  source. 
I  quote  from  the  American  and  Foreign  Anti-slavery 
Society's  report  for  1853,  p.  170.  Speaking  of  the 
emancipated  slaves,  see  as  follows : — 

"  Their  moral  condition  is  very  far  from  being  what  it  ought 
to  be.  It  is  exceedingly  dark  and  distressing.  Licentiousness 
prevails  to  a  most  alarming  extent  among  the  people.  *  *  * 
The  almost  universal  prevalence  of  intemperance  is  another 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  193 

prolific  source  of  the  moral  darkness,  and  degradation  of  the 
people.  The  great  mass  among  all  classes  of  the  inhabitants, 
from  the  governor  in  his  palace  to  the  peasant  in  his  hut, 'from 
the  bishop  in  his  gown  to  the  beggar  in  his  rags,  are  all  slaves 
to  their  cups." 

This  much  for  emancipation  and  abolitionism. 
Instead  of  freedom  having  elevated  the  negro,  it 
has  sunk  him  into  the  deepest  degradation  and  ruin. 
"  The  end  of  slavery  is  the  end  of  civilization  to  the 
negro  race.1'1 

I  will  give  a  few  more  statistical  tables  to  show 
the  great  benefits  of  slave  labor  to  the  world,  and 
the  great  moral  benefit  to  the  negroes,  without  one 
exception. 

The  exports  and  imports  in  Cuba  in  1859  were  as 
follows : — 

Exports  for  1859 $57,455,000 

Imports    "      " 43,465,000 


Surplus  over  imports        ....    $13,990,000 

This  table  of  itself  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  can* 
did  men,  to  see  how  steadily  Cuba,  with  the  other 
Spanish  Islands,  have  advanced  under  slave  labor; 
while  the  morals  of  the  slaves  there  are  a  hundred 
times  better  than  the  morals  of  the  negroes  in  Ja- 
maica. If  the  institution  of  slavery  be  immoral, 
how  does  it  produce  so  much  good?  Can  moral 
evil  beget  moral  good  and  righteousness?  If  eman- 
cipation of  the  negro  be  morally  right,  how  is  it 
that  it  has  produced  nothing  but  moral  evil  and 
complete  ruin  and  degradation  to  the  negro  race, 
wherever  he  has  been  freed,  either  here  or  elsewhere  ? 
17 


194  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Abolitionist,  think  of  this,  or  show  some  good  done 
to  either  race  by  the  emancipation  of  negro  slaves. 

You  will  see  by  the  above  table  that  the  export- 
ations  of  Cuba  amount  to  $40  for  each  man,  woman, 
and  child,  black  and  white,  on  the  whole  island. 

But  let  us  look  a  little  at  our  own  exports  and 
imports.  I  have  not  got  the  figures  for  1860  and 
'61.  I  will  give  the  tables  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1860. 

Including  specie,  our  exports  were  .  .  $373,167,000 
Foreign  produce  in  addition  ....  27,000,000 

In  all $400,167,000 

Imports  for  the  year  ' 361,727,299 


Surplus  over  importations      .        .        .          $38,439,791 

This  gives  about  $1.26  per  head,  supposing  our 
population  to  be  30,000,000.  But  in  Cuba,  where  it 
is  exclusively  slave  labor,  it  is  over  $9.30  per  head. 
Our  whole  exports  amount  (including  the  $27,000,000 
^>f  foreign  produce  reshipped),  to  about  $12.44  per 
head,  and  that  of  Cuba  to  $40.00.  I  hope  the  reader 
will  look  well  at  these  figures,  for  they  fully  sustain 
my  position  on  all  points,  and  rebuke  the  whole 
abolition  movement.  How  strange  it  is  "that  men 
let  a  false  or  morbid  sympathy  run  off  with  all  their 
brains!  A  nation  whose  judgments  are  led  by  their 
sympathies,  will  sink  into  ruin  in  a  very  short  time. 
God  made  animals  to  move  by  instinct,  and  white 
men  by  judgment.  If  we  allow  anything  to  rise 
above  that  judgment,  wo  be  unto  us,  for  God  will 
leave  us  to  follow  our  idols. 


AFK1CAX   SLAVERY.  195 

There  has  so  much  been  said  about  the  slave 
States  having  been  a  great  incumbrance  to  the  free 
States,  ever  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  people  have  got  to 
believe  it  all  over  the  free  States.  I  have  heard  so 
many  good  men  say  we  should  be  better  off  without 
the  slave  States,  and  that  we  have  had  to  carry  them 
on  our  backs.  Abolitionists  have  declared  the  false- 
hood with  such  zeal  that  many  of  the  best  and  most 
influential  men  have  taken  their  word  for  it,  and 
preached  the  same  doctrine  with  equal  zeal,  and 
think  they  are  right. 

Let  us  look  at  it  a  little  by  figures  and  tables,  for 
they  will  not  lie.  We  have  been  importing  between 
tfiree  and  four  hundred  millions,  say  $362,000,000 
round  numbers,  which  is  $12.66  per  head,  for 
30,000,000  of  people.  The  exports  are  $400,000,000, 
including  the  $27,000,000  of  foreign  produce  re- 
shipped,  and  the  specie,  which  is  $13.33  per  head. 
Now  let  us  see  where  those  exports  come  from,  an<i 
to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  this  immense  export- 
ation, which  is  the  life  of  the  country,  while  large 
importations  are  her  death.  But  who  pays  for  the 
$362,000,000,  which  is  nearly  all  imported  by  the 
free  States  ?  We  must  deduct  the  specie,  which  is 
$57,000,000,  and  the  foreign  produce,  27,000,000, 
which  makes  $84,000,000;  this  leaves  $316,000,000 
of  American  produce  exported,  which  is  about  $10.50 
per  head.  I  now  propose  to  show  just  how  much 
of  the  $316,000,000  is  of  the  free  States,  and  then  we 
shall  know  what  the  slaves  have  done. 


19tt  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

The  free  States  exclusively  ....  $5,071,400 
The  free  and  slave  States  which  cannot  be  exactly 
credited  to  the  States  it  is  from,  is  made  up  of 
raw  produce,  manufactures,  products  of  agri- 
culture, vegetable  food,  products  of  the  forest, 
and  manufactured  articles,  etc.,  exports  .  96,826,300 

The  slave  States  exclusively — 

Cotton $191,806,555 

Rice 2,566,400 

Rosin  and  turpentine       .        .        .  3,734,500 

Tobacco 15,906,517 

Tar  and  pitch 151,100 

Brown  sugar 103,244 

Molasses 44,562 

Hemp 8,951 

Total  of  the  slave  States  .        .        $214,321,829    . 

Altogether — 

Free  and  slave  States      .        .        .         $96,826,300 
Free  States  exclusively    .        .        .  5,071,400 

Slave  States  exclusively  .        .        .          214.321,829 

$316,219,529 

Now  here  is  $96,826,300  jointly  exported  by  the 
free  and  slave  States.  It  is  made  up  of  produce  that 
is  raised  alike  in  all  the  States  in  the  United  States; 
therefore  a  correct  division  cannot  be  made  of  the 
credible  amount  to  each  State.  But  any  one  having 
the  slightest  familiarity  with  the  slave  and  free 
States  would  say,  at  least  one-third  of  the  amount  is 
of  slave  labor.  There  is  no  difficulty  about  the  rest. 
For  instance,  the  $5,071,400  set  down  exclusively  for 
the  free  States  is  ice,  coal,  and  fish. 

Then  we  are  compelled  to  add  to  the  exclusive 
exportation  of  the  slave  States — 


AFEICAlSr  SLAVEEY.  197 

One-third  part  of  the  $96,826,300   .        .        .        $32,275,433 
Slave  States  exclusive 215,321,829 


'The  full  amount  exported  from  the  South   .      $246,597,262 

Exclusively  from  free  States   ....          $5,071,431 
Add  to  the  two-thirds  of  the  joint  exportations, 

slave  and  free 64,550,867 


Exclusively  from  the  free  States      .        ."        .        $69,622,298 
Exclusively  from  the  South     ....        246,597,262 

Exports  of  the  whole  United  States         .      $316,219,560 

I  am  met  with  a  protest  against  these  tables,  and 
told  the  free  States  send  a  vast  amount  of  produce 
manufactured  to  the  South,  and  therefore  the  slave 
States  should  not  have  credit  in  the  above  table  for 
one  third  part  of  the  joint  exportation  of  $96,826,299. 
I  only  have  to  say  in  reply  to  this  objection,  that 
the  South  sends  vast  amounts  of  produce  to  the 
North,  that  are  not  included  in  the  above  tables,  for 
they  do  not  enter  any  custom-house  whatever,  there- 
fore are  not  included  in  the  United  States  Keports 
at  Washington,  from  which  the  above  is  taken. 
They  are  as  follows,  and  I  want  every  republican 
and  abolitionist  to  look  at  them  as  well  as  all  anti- 
slavery  democrats — 

Cotton  manufactured  in  the  free  States         .          $55,500,000 

Sugar .  25,000,000 

Naval  stores,  lumber,  tobacco,  rice,  and   hemp, 

perhaps       . 50,000,000 

Aggregate $130,500,000 

I  have  no  figures  before  me  by  which  I  can  give 
the  value  of  the  latter  slave  produce,  and  should  not 
be  surprised  if  I  have-placed  it  far  below  the  mark. 
17* 


198  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

This  immense  amount  is  consumed  in  the  free  States. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  we  receive  a  much  larger 
amount  of  domestic  (raw)  produce  from  the  slave 
States  than  we  furnish  them ;  but  they  have  taken 
from  us  a  vast  amount  of  manufactured  goods,  and 
paid  a  profit  on  them,  which  has  been  the  support  of 
legions  of  our  poor  in  the  free  States.  In  these  es- 
timates you  will  find  that  the  free  States  export 
$3.41  per  head,  and  the  slave  States  export  $24.60 
per  head.  If  you  disbelieve  it,  get  the  United  States 
Reports  by  a  republican  administration,  and  make 
your  own  calculations,  and  let  us  have  them  in  black 
and  white,  and  I,  for  one,  will  stand  by  the  right, 
even  if  my  life  was  required  to  pay  the  penalty. 

I  will  now  copy  a  table  prepared  by  Messrs. 
Van-Evrie,  Horton  &  Co.,  No.  162  Nassau  Street, 
New  York,  which  every  loyal  man  in  the  United 
States  ought  to  get  and  read.  For  ten  cents,  sent 
with  your  address,  order  No.  2  on  statistics.  It  will 
^urprise  you  to  find  how  you  have  been  deceived. 
I  have  a  table  of  my  own  made  out,  but  this  one  is 
easier  to' be  understood — 

Returns  from  the  Treasury  Department  at  Washington, 
shotting  the  value  of  the  exports  and  imports  for  forty  years, 
from  1821  to  \.S&l,with  the  customs  paid  during  the  same  time 
to  the  United  States. 

Gross  value  of  exports  from  1821 

to  1861 .        .        .        .        .        .    $5,556,339,272 

Gross  value  of  imports  from  1821 

to  1861 5,501,238,157 

Customs,  duties  on  imports  paid 

in  the  United  States  Treasury 

Office 1,191,874,443 


AFRICAN  SLAVEEY. 


199 


Total  United  States  exports  for  forty  years— 


Cotton    . 

$2,574,834,991 

Tobacco  . 

425,118,067 

Bice 

87,854,511 

Naval  Stores  . 

110,981,296 

Amount  of  duty. 

Total  in  forty  years 

$3,198,788,865 

$689,141,805 

Food 

1,006,951,335 

216,682,773 

Gold 

458,588,615 

95,349,955 

Crude   articles, 

manufactures, 

&c. 

892,010,457 

190,699,910 

$5,556,339,272          $1,191,874,443 
Exports  from  the  South,  exclusively  for  forty  years — 


Cotton    . 

$2,574,834,991 

Tobacco  . 

425,118,067 

Amount  of  duty 

Rice 

87,854,511 

paid  by  the  South. 

Naval  stores    . 

110,981,296 

$689,141,805 

Forty  per  cent. 

of  the  gold  . 

183,588,615 

72,227,591 

l-3d  of  food     . 

335,650,411 

38,139,982 

Total  in  forty  years 

$3,718,027,891 

$799,509,378 

Amount  of  duties  from  the  North    . 

'  .     392,365,065 

Excess  duties  paid  by  the  South  over  the 


North  in  forty  years 


.  $407,144,313 


Duties  per  head  on  the  present  population  of 
the  free  States,  the  last  forty  years  ending  1861, 
was  $19.61  paid  by  the  South  in  the  same  time 
per  head  on  the  present  population  of  the  slave 
States,  including  slave  women  and  children,  was 
$79.90.  I  had  heard  so  much  of  declensions  of  the 
slave  States,  by  the  blight  of  slavery,  that  I  had 
got  to  believe  there  was  some  truth  in  the  assertion, 


200  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

and,  like  thousands  of  others  who  were  anti-aboli- 
tionist same  as  myself,  had  got  to  speaking  of  slavery 
as  a  social,  political,  and  financial  evil.  But  I  took 
a  tour  through  several  of  the  interior  slaves  States 
some  years  ago.  I  made  it  my  business  to  lose  no 
spaje  time  in  looking  into  the  political,  social,  and 
moral  condition  of  the  slaves  and  their  masters.  I 
found  the  political,  social,  and  moral  standing  of  the 
latter  generally  equal  to  any  people  I  have  ever 
seen,  and  I  believe  equal  to  any  on  the  face  of  the 
globe.  And  that  of  the  slaves  was  indescribably 
better  on  the  general  than  any  class  of  free  negroes 
I  had  ever  seen.  I  had  not  then  even  thought  of 
slavery  as  a  moral  question.  Though,  I  had  so 
often  heard  men  say  it  was  a  great  sin  against  God, 
and  that  no  slave  owner  ever  had,  or  ever  could 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  Glory.  Those  declarations 
had  but  little  effect  on  my  mind,  until  preachers  of 
the  gospel  began  to  denounce  slavery  from  their 
pulpits  as  an  unbounded  moral  evil,  and  slave- 
holders as  moral  devils.  This  caused  me  to  look 
into  the  moral  question  of  negro  slavery,  and  the 
result  was  as  stated  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  this 
book.  I  think  I  have  proved,  both  by  negative  and 
positive  testimony,  that  slavery  is  not  only  not  a 
moral  evil,  but  a  great  moral  blessing  to  the  whole 
civilized  world.  While  the  emancipation  of  the 
negro  race  has  always  been,  and  is  now,  a  moral 
evil  of  the  greatest  magnitude  of  any  other  ever 
introduced  into  this  sin-stricken  world  by  the  Prince 
of  darkness.  I  must  see  more  good  than  evil  from 
the  emancipation  of  that  race,  before  I  change  my 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  201 

mind  in  one  iota,  and  then  I  should  be  compelled  to 
close  the  Book  of  God  for  ever.  For  if  slavery  be  a 
moral  evil,  the  Bible  is  not  the  inspired  word  of  God. 

If  slavery  be  a  moral  evil,  how  is  it  that  it  has 
done  so  much  good  to  both  races  ?  And  if  emanci- 
pation be  a  civil  and  moral  blessing,  or  either,  how 
is  it  that  it  has  proved  such  a  terrible  curse  to  both 
races  throughout  civilization,  but  especially  to  those 
countries  in  which  they  are  freed  ?  See  how  quick 
any  country  is  blighted  and  ruined  by  the  freedom 
of  the  negro  race.  Look  at  Mexico,  Central  America, 
and  the  Tropics  of  South  America,  and  all  the  Brit- 
ish and  French  West  Indies — how  quick  they  all  fell 
from  a  high,  prosperous  state  of  cultivation  and 
moral  worth  to  the  deepest  degradation  and  ruin ! 
How  is  it  the  slave  States  of  our  great  country  have 
done  so  much  more  for  the  glory  of  the  United  States 
with  only  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  than  the  free 
States  have  done  with  double  the  people?  How 
is  it  that  the  slave  States  have  so  steadily  increased 
their  exportations  from  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution to  1860  ?  The  exportation  is  the  only  spring 
that  keeps  a  country  alive.  How  is  it  that  the  ex- 
portations of  the  slave  States  amount  to  about  $246,- 
597,262,  annually,  while  that  of  the  free  States  was 
only  about  $69,622,298?  See  how  constant  the 
increase  of  the  great  staple  of  this  country  was  from 
1800  to  1860.  In  1800  the  slave  States  produced 
35,000  bales  of  cotton  only.  In  1860,  they  raised 
4,300,000,  and  they  increased  double  as  fast  the  last 
ten  years,  as  they  had  ever  done  before. 

Tell  me  how  this  come  to  be  so,  if  slavery  is  such 


202  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

a  great  moral,  political,  financial,  and  social  curse  ? 
How  come  it  that  over  2,500,000  square  miles  of  the 
best  and  most  productive  land  in  the  known  world 
has  been  almost  entirely  abandoned,  consequent 
on  the  emancipation  of  the  negro  slaves  ?  Why  is 
it  that  every  tropical  country  on  the  globe,  where 
slave  labor  was  necessarily  used,  has  been  at  once 
ruined  and  almost  lost  to  the  human  family,  on  the 
freedom  of  the  negro,  and  all  the  black  races  of  those 
climes  at  once  reverted  back  into  demoralization 
and  barbarism,  from  a  good  state  of  civilization;  and 
the  country  from  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  wealth, 
and  prosperity  to  utter  ruin,  if  the  freedom  of  the 
negro  race  be  such  a  great  blessing  to  the  human 
family,  and  especially  to  the  negroes  ?  Examine  the 
few  statistics  I  have  given,  and  the  abolition  wit- 
nesses I  have  adduced  (of  which  I  have  enough  such 
to  make  a  volume  yet  in  my  possession)  and  throw  off 
all  your  party  bias,  decide  quickly,  for  national 
ruin  is  at  our  doors.  The  separation  of  the  Union,  br 
the  emancipation  of  slaves  in  this  great  country,  will 
be  nearly  equally  ruinous.  -A  dissolution  of  the 
Union  will  damn  all  the  free  States,  and  end  our 
hopes  in  this  world.  And  the  emancipation  of  all 
slaves,  will  blast  the  whole  nation  for  all  time  to 
come,  just  as  sure  as  God  lives  and  records  the  acts 
of  men. 

Look  at  Mexico,  Central  America,  New  Granada, 
Venezuela,  Ecuador,  British  Guiana,  Dutch  Guiana, 
French  Guiana,  and  all  the  British  and  French  "West 
India  Islands,  in  which  there  is  now  turned  out  wild 
nearly  2,600,000  square  miles,  of  the  best  land  in 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  203 

the  world,  and  many  millions  of  human  beings  re- 
duced by  it  from  a  good  degree  of  civilization,  and 
a  high  state  of  prosperity  and  usefulness  in  the  world, 
to  the  deepest  state  of  degradation  and  ruin  known 
on  the  globe,  of  which  I  have  given  some  account  in 
former  chapters,  and  have  now  proved  what  I  said 
to  be  far  more  true  than  stated  by  the  best  evidence 
the  world  can  produce. 

Governor  "Wood  of  Ohio,  who  wag  an  anti-slavery 
man,  visited  Jamaica  in  1853,  and  said  of  the  negroes 
there — 

"  Since  the  blacks  have  been  liberated,  they  have  become 
indolent,  insolent,  degraded,  and  dishonest.  They  are  a  rude, 
beastly  set  of  vagabonds,  lying  naked  about  the  streets,  as 
filthy  as  the  Hottentots,  and  I  believe  worse.  On  getting  to 
the  wharf  of  Kingston,  the  first  thing  the  blacks,  of  both  sexes, 
perfectly  naked,  come  swarming  about  the  boat,  and  would 
dive  for  small  pieces  of  coin  that  were  thrown  by  the  passengers. 
On  entering  the  city,  the  stranger  is  annoyed  to  death  by  the 
black  beggars  at  every  step,  and  you  must  often  show  them 
your  pistol,  or  an  uplifted  cane,  to  rid  yourself  of  their  impor- 
tunities." 

I  clipped  the  above  from  a  western  paper,  and  have 
no  doubt  of  its  authenticity.  I  was  at  Kingston  in 
1856,  and  can  testify  to  the  very  truth  of  Governor 
Wood's  statement.  •  Now,  what  ought  to  be  our 
punishment  for  the  crime  of  attempting  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  black  slaves  of  this  country  ?  If  we 
advocate  their  freedom  with  all  this  ruin  to  the 
human  race  staring  us  in  the  face,  with  its  blighting, 
devastating,  and  diabolical  ruinous  effects  upon  the 
blacks,  it  at  once  casts  us  loose  from  the  moorings 


204  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

of  civilization  and  safety,  into  a  lake  of  idleness, 
where  there  is  no  anchorage  for  our  earthly  hopes. 

In  the  struggle  between  slavery  and  anti-slavery 
parties,  the  church  has  already  lost  its  winning  and 
saving  powers,  and  also  the  Christian  ministry  that 
was  ordained  in  heaven  by  the  Eternal  himself,  to 
guide  the  ship  of  the  Moral  Government  of  God  in 
the  world,  as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth. 
There  is  every  evidence  that  is  necessary  to  satisfy- 
any  lover  of  the  Union  {Christianity)  that  God  in- 
tended this  great  country  for  one  universal  Union, 
as  a  counterpart  (in  form),  of  his  own  everlasting 
Kingdom,  for  our  good  as  his  chosen  people,  and  for 
the  salvation  of  as  many  of  the  African  race  as  our 
Heavenly  Father  might  see  proper  to  intrust  us  with, 
for  our  servants,  for  the  good  of  both  races — not 
only  for  our  good  and  that  of  Africa,  but  that  the 
whole  civilized  world  might  see  and  know  his  peo- 
ple, through  the  great  blessings  of  a  universal 
Union,  were  capable  of  self-government,  and  that  they 
could  govern  themselves. 

The  whole  civilized  world, were  upon  tiptoe  of 
wonderment  at  our  great  prosperity  and  glory — that 
so  great,  happy,  and  prosperous  a  nation  should  be 
governed  better  than  any  other  on  the  globe,  without 
kingly  or  military  power.  The  Hon.  John  Quincy 
Adams  told  them  how  it  was,  and  that  the  strength 
of  this  great  nation  "  was  not  in  the  right"  (the  arm), 
"but  in  the  heart"  That  is,  in  the  affections  and  love 
for  each  other ;  and  that  very  moment  we  appealed 
to  the  arm  instead  of  the  heart,  our  government  was 
gone,  or  was  no  more  than  burnt  flax,  as  a  Constitu- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  205 

tional  Union,  and  we  at  once  became  a  monarchical 
despotism,  and  will  never  be  anything  else  unless  we 
return  to  our  first  love.  As  a  free  nation  we  ase  now 
without  a  God  (and  have  no  right  to  appeal  to  him 
as  the  source  and  fountain  of  all  love,  and  the  only 
source  of  peace  and  union),  unless  we  return  to  our 
loyalty  to  his  throne,  as  set  forth  by  Christ  and  his 
holy  apostles. 

Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  think  of  this  before  you 
preach  any  more  war  sermons  from  your  pulpits,  or 
present  any  more  Sharpe's  rifles  and  military  swords 
before  your  altars  (that  were  dedicated  to  Almighty 
God  in  love  and  holiness  for  his  service  only),  and 
exhort  your  people  no  more  to  rush  to  the  field  to 
spill  your  brothers'  blood.  P  say,  think  of  your 
legitimate  calling,  and  take  no  more  steps  for  the 
destruction  of  this  great  government,  whose  strength 
was  in  the  "hearts"  of  the  people  and  not  in  their 
arms,  until  you  can  show  us  some  precept  or  example 
for  such  a  course  in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures. 
God  will  hold  you  responsible  to  his  moral  govern- 
ment for  your-  conduct  in  this  war.  You  were  called, 
if  called  at  all,  to  deal  out  love  and  mercy  to  all  the 
people,  as  your  great  Progenitor  did.  While  he  is 
your  example,  he  will  be  your  God,  and  no  longer. 
War  never  did  nor  never  can  produce  a  union  of 
"hearts"  for  war  is  of  the  devil,  and  union  is  of 
God.  Paul,  the  great  apostle  and  ambassador  of 
Jesus  Christ,  never  presented  any  military  swords  or 
guns  at  the  altars  dedicated  to  Almighty  God,  nor 
recommended  them  anywhere  else,  but  said — 
18 


206  ^      AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

"  Therefore  if  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him  ;  if  he  thirst, 
give  him  drink  ;  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap  coals  of  fire  on 
his  head." — ROMANS  xii.  20. 

"  Be  not  overcome  with  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good." 
21. 

"  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him  :  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into 
his  place ;  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with 
the  sword." — MATT.  xxvi.  52. 

In  the  above  verses  we  have  both  example  and 
precept.  But  in  the  following  we  have  the  denuncia- 
tion of  all  such  preachers  who  recommend  the  sword 
to  spill  their  brother's  blood. 

"  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  vipers,  how  can  ye  escape 
the  damnation  of  hell  ?" — MATT,  xxiii.  33. 

This  is  a  terrible  denunciation,  but  is  it  more  ter- 
rible than  this  bloody  civil  war,  that  this  great  nation 
has  been  plunged  into  by  abolition  gospel  preachers  ? 
Did  those  Scribes  and  Pharisees  deserve  such  a  denun- 
ciation any  more  than  those  preachers  who  have  turned 
away  from  teaching  the  way  of  life,  peace,  and  union ; 
and  glory  in  spilling  the  blood  of  their  fellow  men, 
and  not  only  their  fellow  men,  but  their  own  race 
and  blood?  And  yet  with  all  the  pretensions  of 
righteousness  that  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ever 
feigned.  By  this  course  you  Jiave  destroyed  the 
fraternal  power  of  love,  in  this  great  nation,  reduced 
us  from  the  lofty  state  of  universal  union,  which  is 
of  God,  to  universal  opposition,  malice,  and  civil 
war,  and  saturated  the  soil  of  this  glorious  country 
with  rivers  of  once  fraternal  blood,  by  the  sword. 

'•Ye  blind  guides!  which  strain  at  a  gnat,  and  swallow  a 
camel." 

"  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." — MATT. 
xxiii.  24,  38. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  207 

Yet,  abolition  gospel  preachers,  you  have  closed 
your  eyes  to  the  truths  plainly  set  forth  in  the  New 
Testament  (see  2d  chapter),  you  have  blindfolded 
yourselves  by  the  god  of  this  world  and  taught 
doctrines  in  direct  opposition  to  the  gospel,  as  taught 
by  the  Apostle  Paul.  You  have  not  only  done,  and 
recommended  evil  for  evil,  but  you  have  done  evil 
for  good.  "  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you 
desolate."  And  instead  of  being  a  savor  of  life  unto 
life,  you  have  been  a  savor  of  death  unto  death,  and 
by  your  doings,  ruin,  desolation,  consternation,  and 
mourning  cover  our  once  glorious  and  happy  land. 
Even  now,  if  the  church  would  return  to  God,  and 
repent,  and  forsake  their  allegiance  to  the  king  of 
darkness,  our  glorious  union  may  yet  be  restored, 
and  peace  and  love  be  hallowed  throughout  our  land. 

APPENDIX. 

IF  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  any 
desire  to  restore  peace  and  union  to  our  distracted 
and  ruined  nation,  and  intends  to  gratify  that  desire, 
he  will  have  to  make  up  his  mind  to  restore  it  just 
as  Grod  gave  it  unto  us,  or  he  will  not  live  to  see 
peace  and  union  restored  on  this  great  continent. 
If  slavery  had  been  morally  wrong,  it  would  never 
have  been  here.  Grod  himself  produced  the  circum- 
stances, which  made  slavery  not  only  necessary,  but 
an  insurmountable  necessity.  I  have  clearly  shown 
from  Divine  Eevelation,  that  the  Supreme  Being 
not  only  "sanctioned"  slavery,  but  commanded  that 
a  particular  race  should  be  made  slaves  for  life  with- 


208  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

out  limit  to  time.  And  the  fact  tbat  this  great 
country  was  so  blessed  under  slave  labor,  prosperity 
having  crowned  our  every  lawful  effort  and  enter- 
prise from  end  to  end,  and  from  side  to  side,  the 
truth  of  God  run  and  was  glorified.  Gospel  efforts 
blazed  everywhere,  and  both  races  shouted  and 
praised  God  aloud  throughout  the  land.  No  people 
on  the  globe  was  ever  so  blessed  as  the  slaves,  for 
they  excelled  all  others  in  unmolested  happiness. 
When  we  see  slavery  such  a  great  blessing  to  this 
whole  nation,  and  even  more  to  the  free  States  than 
the  slave  States,  and  equally  so  to  the  whole  civilized 
world.  To  know  this  fact,  we  only  have  to  look  at 
the  condition  of  nearly  all  Europe  at  this  time,  as 
well  as  our  own;  all  of  which  troubles  and  ruin 
has  been  caused  by  the  attack  upon  slavery  in  this 
country.  Yea,  all  civilized  Europe  is  now  frowning 
down  upon  us  for  this  most  ungodly  attack  upon  the 
divine  institution  of  negro  slavery.  With  all  this 
in  view,  and  pressing  upon  ris  on  every  side;  will 
the  President,  and  so  many  good  people  in  the  free 
States  close  their  eyes  against  the  enormous  facts, 
and  still  persevere  to  glorify  infidelity  and  the  devil, 
and  sink  this  great  nation  into  ruin?  For  as  God 
lives,  we  shall  reap  just  what  we  sow.  If  we  sow 
union,  peace,  and  love,  we  shall  reap  the  same.  If 
we  go  on  in  this  God-forbidden  course,  and  free  the 
slaves  of  the  South  by  force  of  arms,  I  have  only  to 
ask  you  to  inquire  of  Mexico,  Central  America, 
Venezuela,  New  Granada,  British  and  French  West 
Indies,  to  know  what  we  shall  come  to  soon. 

You  say  there  is  no  danger  in  this  country,  for  it 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

is  different  from  all  others.  That  the  freedom  of  the 
slaves  will  improve  everything  in  the  entire  con- 
federation. So  said  Great  Britain  and  France,  and 
so  thought  the  planters  in  the  West  Indies,  and  said 
it  would  be  cheaper  and  better  for  them  to  hire  the 
negroes  than  it  would  be  to  own  them ;  and  many  of 
the  planters  went  in  for  it,  believing  they  could  hire 
them  at  less  cost  than  it  took  to  support  them  as 
slaves,  and  thought  one  hired  freed  or  free  negro 
would  do  as  much  work  as  two  slaves.  But  0, 
what  a  sad  mistake  they  found  they  had  made  when 
too  late.  "What  was  their  consternation  and  disap- 
pointment when  they  learned  that  the  freed  negro 
would  not  work  at  all  for  wages  or  love,  and  that 
his  only  idea  of  freedom  was  to  lie  about  in  the 
hot  sun,  and  do  nothing  but  sing  and  eat  yams,  as  a 
Cincinnati  Journal  said  of  the  Brown  County  negro 
colony,  "  too  lazy  to  play." 

Inquire  of  England  how  many  millions  pounds 
sterling  annually  has  been  distilled  from  the  brains 
and  muscles  of  her  white  people,  in  consequence  of 
smancipation  in  her  provinces.  She  will  tell  you 
the  $100,000,000  to  pay  for  the  negro  freedom  was 
not  much ;  but  the  losses  since  to  the  government, 
and  the  <  want  of  the  articles  produced  on  those 
[stands,  had  doubled  the  price  of  almost  all  the 
tropical  articles,  and  vastly  raised  the  price  of  most 
all  other  necessaries  of  life,  so  that  her  poor  have 
been  oppressed  beyond  calculation.  And  what  for  ? 
has  it  done  anybody  any  good  anywhere  on  the 
^lobe,  of  any  color  ?  Not  a  single  instance  can  be 
found  ;  but  it  has  struck  a  fatal  blow  to  the  wants 
18* 


210  AFRICAN  SLAVEKY. 

of  all  civilized  people  on  this  verdant  earth.  Is 
that  all  ?  If  it  was  we  might  put  up  with  it.  But  it 
has  sunk  the  black  race  (who  had  been  brought  up 
to  a  good  state  of  civilization  by  being  taken  there 
from  the  most  degraded  land  of  barbarism  on  which 
the  sun  ever  shone  and  made  slaves  to  white  mas- 
ters) down  to  the  lowest  state  of  their  ancestors. 
Eead  the  history  of  Dehomi's  kingdom  in  Africa, 
and  you  will  learn  from  what  a  depth  of  ruin  they 
were  taken  and  civilized  by  slavery,  and  the  depth 
of  ruin,  degradation,  and  barbarism,  they  have  again 
been  consigned  to  by  emancipation. 

Now  if  President  Lincoln, -or  his  host  of  followers, 
with  all  the  abolition  gospel  preachers,  who  seem  to 
think  that  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  would  be 
the  greatest  boon  ever  bestowed  upon  mankind,  will 
only  weigh  this  negro  question  in  view  of  all  the 
true  concomitant  circumstances,  without  prejudice  or 
favor,  except  for  the  general  good  of  all  mankind,  they 
will  doubtless  make  up  their  minds  to  restore  the 
Union  as  it  was  first  formed,  with  slavery  unmolested 
in  all  the  States  who  may  desire  it.  Thus  God 
blessed  us  with  the  Union,  and  thus  he  has  blessed  us 
with  the  greatest  prosperity  ever  known  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  And  .unless  it  is  thus  restored,  no  man 
now  living  will  ever  see  it  restored,  or  enjoy  union, 
peace,  and  happiness  again  on  the  face  of  this  con- 
tinent. 

Many  seem  to  have  little  or  no  respect  for  the 
rights  and  happiness  of  white  men,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  I  am  willing  to  admit 
that  "  We,  the  (white)  people,"  deserve  all  the  foretold, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  211 

and  untold  ruin  which  is  now  upon  us,  for  we  had 
become  a  proud,  high-headed,  and  stiff-necked  peo- 
ple ;  yet  the  happiest  people  that  ever  had  a  being. 
But  as  those  ministers  and  people  seem  willing  to 
destroy  hundreds  of  thousands  of  "  the  people1'1  by  the 
sword,  for  the  sake  of  placing  the  negro  race 
on  an  equality  with  "  the  people"  or  a  little  higher, 
will  they  not  try  to  restore  the  Union  as  it  was, 
for  the  good  of  that  poor  unfortunate  race  (the 
negroes),  who  have  been  so  useful,  and  have  so 
multiplied  the  glories  of  this  world,  as  slaves  ?  Go 
to  Mexico,  Central  America,  the  Guianas,  New  Gran- 
ada, Ecuador,  the  West  Indies,  or  any  spot  on  the 
earth  where  the  negroes  have  ,been  freed,  and  made 
equal  to  the  white  man,  and  you  will  see  that  you 
are  a  thousand  times  more  cruel  to  the  black  race, 
than  any  system  of  slavery  ever  was ;  especially  that 
of  this  country. 

I  never  saw  a  good  slave  yet  who  was  not  inex- 
pressibly happier  than  any  free  negroes  I  saw  in 
New  Granada,  and  just  as  far  above  them  in  moral 
standing.  Yet  the  black  race  there,-  or  in  Jamaica, 
or  Hayti,  were  just  as  good  before  emancipation  as 
our  slaves  are ;  but  look  at  them  now.  Now,  for 
the  sake,  and  in  the  name  of  the  descendants  of  Africa, 
stop  your  mad  attack  upon  that  institution  of  God, 
devised  for  the  good  of  both  races,  that  his  name  may  . 
yet  again  be  glorified  in  this  world. 

I  will  say  again  that,  if  all  those  who  have  been 
ordained,  or  licensed  to  preach  the  glorious  gospel 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  had  stuck  to 
their  legitimate  calling,  and  followed  the  example  of 


212  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

their  great  exemplar  St.  Paul,  we  should  now  be  at 
peace,  and  the  Union  would  not  only  exist  in  name, 
but  in  fact,  and  the  whole  nation  would  be  as  a  band 
of  brethren  held  together  by  the  strong  bonds  of 
love  to  God,  and  each  other.  ••Yea  our  great  strength 
would  still  be  in  the  "  heart"  and  not  in  the  battle- 
field. 

What  will  future  generations  think  of  the  church 
in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  his- 
tory shall  hand  our  past  glories  down  to  them, 
when  they  shall  compare  it  with  their  ruined  con- 
dition ?  God  will  hold  the  church  of  the  present  day 
responsible  for  the  ruin  that  has  overtaken  this 
nation,  which  he  had  called  into  existence,  to  be  as 
a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  that  all  the  world  might  see 
that  this  people  were  capable  of  self-government, 
and  glorify  his  great  name.  But  alas,  we  have 
fallen  into  the  valley. 

I  have  written  the  last  four  or  five  pages  as  an 
appendix  to  this  chapter,  since  I  had  finished,  to  try 
to  get  the  people  to  see  what  was  going  on  around 
them.  And  how  they  are  being  deceived  by  the 
ungodly  protestations  of  newspapers,  and  public 
speakers.  No  falsehood  seems  too  monstrous,  no 
slander  too  malignant  and  bitter  for  them  to  belch 
forth  to  an  anxious  people,  and  they  have  done  it 
with  such  vehemence  and  boldness,  that  many  thou- 
sands -of  good  people  have  been  made  to,  believe 
that  all  they  have  said  was  very  truth. 

This  publication,  may  end  my  liberty;  if  so,  I 
shall  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  I  have 
used  my  little  talent  in  trying  to  expose  the  true 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  213 

traitors  to  this  great  and  glorious  government,  whose 
power  and  strength  was  in  the  "  hearts"  of  the  people, 
and  not  in  the  arm.  That  they  might  not  now  blind 
the  people  by  a  great  hurrah  for  the  Union,  while  in 
their  very  souls  they  know  they  have  destroyed  it . 
And  now  they  are  wasting  hundreds  of  millions,  de- 
stroying hundreds  of  thousands  pf  lives,  and  demor- 
alizing and  beggaring  the  whole  nation,  to  hide  their 
sins,  and  make  the  people  believe  somebody  else 
did  it. 

I  am  now  done,  and  doubt  not  but  I  have  made 
many  errors  on  unimportant  points,  as  I  have  writ- 
ten much  from  memory  of  history,  but  on  the  main 
question  before  me  I  know  I  am  right.  I  hope  the 
statistics  I  have  given  will  receive  proper  attention. 
Please  look  over  slight  and  unimportant  errors.  If 
you  differ  with  me  on  the  main  question,  don't  slan- 
der me  by  calling  me  a  traitor,  for  I  hold  myself 
second  to  no  one  in  this  whole  nation  for  true  love 
and  loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  of  the 
whole  thirty-four  States.  God  knows  I  am  sincere ; 
therefore  let  us  have  your  objections  in  black  and 
white,  that  I  may  be  able  to  compare  and  weigh  the 
whole  matter.  If  I  have  misunderstood  the  quota- 
tions I  have  made  from  the  Bible,  I  hope  some  true 
and  faithful  divine  will  show  me  my  error,  as  Christ 
taught  "Nicodemus,"  and  not  denounce  me  as  a 
traitor.  You  must  not  understand  me  above  to  in- 
clude all  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  for  God  knows 
I  don't.  I  hope  and  believe  that  there  is  yet  salt 
enough  in  the  ministry  to  save  the  Church  from 
a  complete  overthrow. ,  I  only  mean  to  include 


214  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

such  as  Beecher,  Cheever,  Furness,  Thompson,  and 
others. 

Before  I  give  this  work  into  the  hands  of  the 
printer,  I  must  make  a  little  reply  to  an  article  in 
the  New  York  Methodist  of  the  13th  Dec.,  1862.  I 
had  finished  the  chapter  long  since,  except  some 
corrections,  but  as  it  is  not  yet  published,  I  will  add 
a  few  remarks  on  this  article  of  Prof.  Cairnes  on  the 
slave  power.  He  is  an  Englishman  writing  on  the 
American  question.  The  article  before  me  seems  to 
be  Mr.  Cairnes'  second  on  the  subject.  The  first  I 
did  not  see.  I  only  wish  to  call  attention  to  one  or 
two  points  in  the  letter  before  me. 

Mr.  Cairnes  says,  since  emancipation  in  the  West 
Indies,  "small  proprietors  have  increased  an  hun- 
dred fold."  "  Within  the  last  fifteen  years,  notwith- 
standing the  high  price  of  land,  and  the  low  rate  of 
wages,  the  small  proprietors  of  Barbadoes,  most  of 
them  formerly  slaves,  have  increased  from  1100  to 
3537."  I  will  say  that  I  have  no  objection  to  the 
above  statement,  so  far  as  it  is  true,  and  I  will  not 
say  that  any  part  of  it  is  false,  but  shall  ask  a  few 
questions  on  some  points  before  I  get  through. 

Prof.  Cairnes  seerns  to  be  writing  in  favor  of  uni- 
versal emancipation  in  the  United  States,  evidently 
trying  to  make  the  impression  that  emancipation  has 
been  a  great  benefit  in  the  West  Indies,  by  infer- 
ences, without  saying  so.  His  first  expression  in- 
cludes the  -West  India  Islands,  where  universal 
freedom  has  been  granted,  and  then  gives  the  Island 
of  Barbadoes  as  an  illustration,  and  says,  "  the  small 
proprietors  have  increased  in  the  last  fifteen  years 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  215 

from  1100  to  3537,  notwithstanding  the  high  price 
of  land  and  low  rate  of  wages."  I  regret  that  I 
have  not  the  statistics  of  that  island  at  hand,  and 
therefore  can  only  say  that  if  the  land  has  increased 
in  price  on  that  island,  it  is  very  dissimilar  from  all 
the  rest  of  the  Antilles.  It  is  true  that  the  small 
proprietorships  have  increased  an  hundred-fold  on 
all  the  West  India  Islands  and  in  all  States,  where- 
ever  universal  emancipation  of  the  negroes  have 
been  granted,  both  in  Europe  and  America.  But 
who  have  been  benefited,  or  where  is  the  spot  of 
land  that  has  been  improved  by  it,  and  what  has 
been  the  result  ?  Just  turn  back  to  the  statistics  I 
have  given  in  this  chapter,  and  you  will  see  desola- 
tion, degradation,  demoralization,  idleness,  laziness, 
licentiousness,  and  drunkenness,  have  been  the  only 
results.  Why  did  not  Prof.  Cairnes  tell  exactly 
what  he  meant,  and  give  some  other  evidence  of 
good  by  freedom,  besides  the  great  increase  of  small 
(negro)  proprietorships  ?  All  who  know  much  about 
negroes,  are  aware  of  their  disposition  to  have  a 
home  of  their  own,  that  they  may  have  a  spot 
from  which  no  man  can  move  them,  or  interfere  with 
their  habits.  Eead  the  history  of  Jacob  and  Mill, 
commencing  on  page  141,  and  you  will  have  a  com- 
plete illustration  of  those  small  proprietorships  in 
Barbadoes,  so  boastingly  chronicled  by  Prof.  Cairnes. 
A  vast  majority  of  those  small  proprietorships  cover 
from  a  quarter  to  about  one  or  one  and  a -half  acres 
of  land,  all  of  which  has  the  appearance  of  laziness, 
ruin,  and  desolation.  There  is  not  the  slightest  ap- 
pearance of  industry  of  any  kind,  much  less  enter- 


216  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

prise,  throughout  those  small  proprietorships,  and 
they  look  more  like  habitations  for  animals  of  the 
reptile  order,  than  for  human  beings.  These  small 
proprietorships  are  general  from  Mexico  east, 
throughout  the  countries,  wherever  emancipation 
of  the  negro  race  has  been  effected. 

Why  did  not  Professor  Cairnes  state  the  good 
results  of  freedom  by  that  immense  increase  of  pro- 
prietors ?  Because  he  knew  of  the  degradation, 
demoralization,  and  ruin,  to  the  entire  negro  race 
caused  by  it,  and  the  almost  complete  stoppage  of 
every  kind  of  business,  and  total  "stoppage  of  the 
exports  of  every  product  that  requires  any  labor  to 
produce  it.  He  says,  "notwithstanding  the  high 
price  of  land,  and  low  rate  of  wages."  This  seems 
to  be  said  to  impress  the  mind  with  the  idea  that 
there  is  industry  and  drive-ahead  enterprise  among 
the  freed  negroes.  That,  notwithstanding,  those  two 
obstacles  since  emancipation,  the  proprietors  have 
increased  from  1100  to  3537  on  the  Island  of  Bar- 
badoes. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  true  that  wages  are  low. 
The  planters  would  pay  any  price  for  hands,  but 
wages,  no  matter  how  high,  will  not  bring  them. 
For  they  will  not  engage  themselves  for  seasonable 
labor  for  love  nor  money.  When  emancipation  was 
effected  in  the  West  Indies,  planting  almost  entirely 
ceased,  and  was  only  barely  revived  by  the  importa- 
tion of  Coolies  from  China,  who  were  kidnapped  and 
forced  from  their  native  land  and  sold  as  slaves  in 
Jamaica  and  other  Islands  for  eight  years ;  nearly 
one-half  of  whom  die  before  the  end  of  the  eight 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  -       217 

years'  service,  and  but  few  have  life  enough  in  them 
to  enable  them  to  procure  a  livelihood.  Hard  labor 
in  the  hot  sun  in  the  torrid  zones  is  ruinous  to  their 
physical  health,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  brought 
to  a  premature  end  by  the  cruelties  of  hard-hearted 
opponents  of  negro  slavery.  And  all  this  to  allow 
Sambo  to  lounge  and  bask  in  idleness  under  the  man- 
go-tree, who  was  greatly  improved  both  physically  and 
morally  by  slavery,  and  ivas  incalculably  useful  to  the 
whole  civilized  world,  whose  usefulness  has  been 
totally  lost  to  the  human  family,  and  the  slaves 
suddenly  reduced  to  heathenism  and  barbarism  by 
emancipation  from  slavery  to  good  white  masters, 
and  the  world  is  taxed  at  least  fifty  per  cent,  on  all 
they  consume  to  encourage  Sambo's  lazy  habits. 
This  is  abolition  righteousness  and  emancipation 
consistency.  One  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  the 
human  family  must  be  forever  lost  and  the  greatest 
civilizer  yet  known  to  mankind  forever  abolished 
and  blotted  out,  whose  place  cannot  now,  nor  never 
will  be  supplied  in  this  world.  Methinks,  I  almost 
see  old  Apollyon  sitting  in  his  big  armed  antislavery 
chair  as  placid  as  a  Turk  smoking  opium,  while  he 
views  his  servants  accomplishing  so  much  glory  for 
his  kingdom  by  negro  emancipation. 

Prof.  Cairnes  speaks  of  high  priced  lands.  I  will 
only  say  that  if  the  land  has  raised,  it  is  contrary  to 
all '  other  West  India  Islands.  All  travellers  on 
those  Islands  whom  I  have  consulted,  tell  us  that 
the  best  of  lands  can  be  bought  for  a  mere  song. 
In  Jamaica  two-thirds  of  all  the  sugar  estates  have 
been  totally  •  abandoned,  and  one-half  of  the  other 
19 


218  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

third  partly.  Every  sugar  plantation  on  the  Island 
of  St.  Domingo  has  been  long  since  totally  aban- 
doned, from  where  they  exported  nearly  200,000,  • 

000  pounds  of  sugar  annually  before  emancipation. 
And  if  slavery  had  been  maintained  there,  no  doubt 
they  would  now  export  400,000,000  pounds  instead 
of  not  now  one  pound.     While  Cuba,  where  slavery 
has  been  continued,  has  been  constantly  advancing 
in  prosperity  and  civilization. 

Prof.  Cairnes  declares  that  white  and  black  people 
are  equal,  that  both  alike  will  only  work  under  com- 
pulsion, and  this  he  says  after  the  experiment  had 
been  tried  for  so  many  long  years,  and  proved  a 
total  failure  wherever  it  has  been  tried. 

Rev.  Dr.  Channing  was  considered  a  great  man, 
and  he  put  forth  the  following  prophecy  in  1833, 
while  the  emancipation  bill  was  before  Parliament. 

1  have  no  doubt  he  thought  he  was  right,  for  the 
experiment  had  not  been  made  in  any  of  the  pro- 
vinces of  Great  Britian.     The  majority  of  Parliament 
entertained  the  same  opinions,  notwithstanding  the 
total  ruin   of  the  Island  of  St.  Domingo,  and  the 
complete  demoralization  and  ruin  of  the  whole  black 
race  of  that  island  by  emancipation  some  thirty  years 
prior,  and  was  then  fully  demonstrated.     But  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Channing,  like  the  Rev.  Drs.  Cheever  and  Beecher 
of  this  day,  was  disposed  to  make  an  apology  for 
the  failure  in  Hayti,  and  other  French  Provinces, 
Ilaytians  having  freed  themselves  by  a  revolution 
and  complete  massacre  of  the  whole  population  after 
the  emancipation  bill  had  passed,  therefore  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Channing  and  all  the  other  English  abolitionists 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

thought  if  they  were  set  free,  and  placed  on  an  equal- 
ity, the  white  population  would  be  greatly  benefited. 
Therefore  Dr.  -Channing  made  the  following  decla- 
ration : — 

"  The  planters,  in  general,  would  suffer  little,  if  at  all,  from 
emancipation.  This  change  would  make  them  richer  rather 
than  poorer.  One  would  think,  indeed,  from  the  common 
language  on  the  subject,  that  the  negroes  were  to  be  annihi- 
lated by  being  set  free  ;  that  the  whole  labor  of  the  South  was 
to  be  destroyed  by  a  single  blow.  But  the  colored  men,  when 
freed,  will  not  vanish  from  the  soil.  He  will  stand  there  with 
the  same  muscles  as  before,  only  strung  anew  by  liberty ;  with 
the  same  limbs  to  toil,  and  with  stronger  motives  to  toil  than 
before.  He  will  work  from  hope,  not  from  fear  ;  will  work  for 
himself,  not  for  others ;  and,  unless  all  the  principles  of  human 
aature  are  reversed  under  a  blade  skin,  he  will  work  better 
than  before.  We  believe  that  agriculture  will  revive,  our  worn- 
ou<>  soils  will  be  renewed,  and  the  whole  country  assume  a 
brighter  aspect  under  free  labor" 

Rev.  Dr.  Channing  spoke  very  lightly,  and  con- 
temptuously of  the  opinions  of  those  who  knew  that 
human  nature  was  totally  "reversed  under  a  black 
skin,"  just  as  all  the  abolitionists  treat  us  here  who 
have  sufficiently  investigated  the  nature  of  the  white 
and  black  races,  to  know  that  human  nature  is  entirely 
and  completely  "reversed  under  a  Hack  skin"  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Channing  was  told  what  the  result  would  be, 
but  he  and  the  British  House  of  Lords  would  not  be- 
lieve it,  until  they  struck  the  fatal  blow  upon  the  in- 
terest of  that  entire  nation,  and  all  other  civilized 
people.  And  now,  if  the  blow  should  be  struck 
here,  and  the  negroes  freed,  it  will  throw  civiliza- 
tion back  five  hundred  years,  and  forever  end  the 
hopes  of  white  men  for  self-government  and  per- 


220  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

feet  liberty.  It  is  strange  that  men  will  not  see  the 
ruin  that  will  follow  the  success  of  abolitionism  in 
this  once  happy  country.  O  that  I  "could  open  the 
eyes  of  the  blind,  who  are  being  led  into  ruin  by 
designing  men  ! 

I  don't  know  with  what  amount  of  literary  know- 
ledge Prof.  Cairnes  may  have  been  possessed,  but  one 
of  two  things  is  evident.  He  either  has  no  know- 
ledge of  negro  human  nature,  or  the  teachings  of 
inspired  truth,  and  the  immense  disasters  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  whole  civilized  world,  with  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  last  hope  of  civilization  for  the 
African  race,  and  their  everlasting  degradation  from 
civilization  outside  of  Africa  by  emancipation ;  or 
he  is  an  infidel  or  anti-Christian,  and  is  aiming  at 
the  destruction  of  the  latter.  For  it  cannot  be  pos- 
sible that  he  is  so  ignorant  of  the  degradation  to  the 
negro  race  in  all  the  British  and  French  Provinces, 
or  West  Indies,  the  financial,  social,  and  political  ruin 
to  all  the  white  inhabitants  of  those  Islands,  and 
great  embarrassment  to  the  mother  countries  by  the 
freedom  of  the  negroes. 

The  Islands  of  Barbadoes  and  Trinidad  are  con- 
stantly brought  forward  by  abolitionists  to  show  the 
advantages  of  negro  freedom.  They  don't  tell  us  of 
the  stringent  laws  of  those  miniature  islands,  and 
the  immense  number  of  Coolies  whom  they  have 
been  compelled  to  import  from  China,  and  make 
them  slaves,  on  the  Island  of  Trinidad,  to  keep  up 
their  producing  operations.  Nor  do  they  tell  of  the 
laws  of  Barbadoes,  that  compels  the  negroes  to  drag 
a  heavy  block,  chained  to  them,  for  refusing  to  work 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  221 

svhen  work  is  offered  to  them,  and  thus  they  are 
punished  worse  than  their  masters  ever  punished 
;hem  for  idleness. 

I  will  give  one  more  table  that  will  satisfy  every 
reader  that  what  I  say  about  Prof.  Cairnes  is  about 
:rue.  In  1800  the  West  Indies  exported  17,000,000 
Ibs.  of  cotton,  and  this  country  exported  17,789,803 
Lbs.  This  was  after  cotton  had  nearly  ceased  to  be 
cultivated  in  St.  Domingo  and  other  French  colo- 
aies,  or  they  would  have  been  ahead  of  the  United 
States  that  year.  In  1840  all  the  West  Indies  ex- 
ported 866,157  Ibs.  of  cotton;  the  United  States 
3xported  743,941,061.  Is  this  not  enough  to  satisfy 
svery  common-sense  man  that  Prof.  Cairnes  must 
have  known  better,  and  that  the  American  system  is 
the  best  in  the  world  ?  Is  negro  slavery  a  social, 
political  and  moral  evil,  and  negro  freedom  a 
blessing  ? 

The  abolitionists  say  that  if  there  never  had  been 
any  slaves  in  the  United  States,  we  should  now  be 
it  peace  throughout  our  own  land.  That  may  be 
so ;  but  not  so  certain  as  it  would  have  been  if  we 
never  had  had  any  abolitionists  among  us.  If  there 
never  had  been  any  negroes,  we  should  not  have  had 
any  slaves ;  if  there  never  had  been  any  money,  we 
should  never  have  had  any  pickpockets  nor  high- 
way robbers ;  if  we  never  have  had  any  marriages, 
we  should  never  have  had  any  abusing  and  aban- 
doning of  wives.  But  God  made  negroes,  money, 
and  instituted  slavery  and  the  marriage  contract- — 
but  he  did  not  make  the  abolitionists.  Therefore, 
19* 


222  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

they  have  been  produced  by  the  other  great  spirit, 
who  is  the  father  of  lies  and  all  bloody  wars. 

I  will  repeat,  that  if  I  had  been  "called  upon  (by  an 
irrevocable  decree)  to  have  destroyed  this  great 
moral  government  by  the  people,  and  to  have  raised 
up  in  its  place  the  worst  despotism  ever  known  on 
the  earth,  and  if  I  failed  in  the  first  effort  death  was 
to  have  been  the  penalty,  I  should  have  taken  the 
very  course  the  republican  party  did  in  1860  and 
'61,  and  should  have  pursued  the  very  plans  they 
have  pursued  to  this  day,  and  I  should  have  had  no 
fear  of  death  by  the  decree. 

God  intended  this  government  to  be  as  near  like 
what  he  created  man  for,  as  it  was  possible  for  man 
to  be  in  his  fallen  state,  and  established  the  Christian 
churches  as  safety  valves ;  but  many  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  whom  he  ordained  and  sent  forth  as 
moral  teachers  and  pioneers  of  civilization,  have 
turned  away  from  that  holy  calling,  and  have  sub- 
stituted Sharpe's  rifles,  the  cannon-ball,  and  the 
sword  for  'the  Gospel  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and  prayed 
that  they  might  swim  in  rivers  of  blood  of  their  own 
brethren  in  the  Church,  to  break  up  and  completely 
destroy  an  institution  established  by  God  himself  for 
the  mutual  good  of  the  black  and  white  races  in  the 
world ;  and  now  the  consequences  are  upon  us.  Will 
not  those  preachers  do  as  Judas  did,  that  peace  may 
come  to  our  land  ? 


CHAPTEE    IY. 

Can  the  White  or  Anglo-American  Eace,  and  the  African  or 
Negro  Eace,  live  together  on  a  political,  social,  and  domestic 
equality  in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  and  how  ? 
If  so,  would  it  be  justified  by  the  laws  of  Nature  or  of  Na- 
ture's God  ? 

HUMAN  or  civil  laws  are  changeable,  and  can  be 
suited  to  the  majority  of  a  republic,  or  the  whim  or 
caprice  of  a  king  or  despot.  The  laws  of  Nature 
vary  somewhat,  but  the  fundamental  principles  are 
unchangeable  and  entirely  beyond  the  control  of 
man.  Wherever  the  civil  laws  or  human  practices 
in  any  way  interfere  with  the  laws  of  Nature,  they 
interfere  with  the  laws  of  Omnipotence,  and  the 
penalty  is  severe  and  interminable;  and  woe  be 
unto  that  government  or  people  who  shall  attempt 
to  change  or  interfere  with  those  laws,  only  to  ex- 
pose, cultivate,  dress,  and  improve  them.  On  these 
doctrines  we* have  had  line  upon  line,  and  precept 
upon  precept,  and  no  man  or  woman  can  in  this  day 
of  light  and  knowledge  plead"  ignorance  of  them 
and  their  penalties.  They  may  plead  ignorance  of 
human  or  civil  laws,  for  they  are  changed  by  the 
caprice  of  parties,  but  the  laws  of  Nature  have  un- 
dergone no  change  since  the  fall  of  man.  Though 
miraculous  additions  have  been  made  to  the  variety, 

(  223  ) 


224  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

there  has  been  no  change  in  the  fundamentals  for 
nearly  6000  years. 

I  have  said  enough  in  former  chapters  on  the 
origination  of  the  now  African  race,  the  descend- 
ants of  Canaan,  the  confusion  of  tongues,  and  the 
separation  of  the  human  family,  from  the  building 
of  Babel.  There  was  but  one  family  and  one  tongue 
prior  to  that  day.  From  that  miraculous  event  all 
the  different  tribes,  races,  and  nations  of  the  earth 
sprang,  except  the  Canaanites,  now  the  African  race, 
and  the  Ishmaelites,  now  the  Bedouin  Arabs,  or  the 
Arabs  of  the  desert  of  Arabia ;  and  those  tribes  who 
sprang  from  a  mixture  of  blood  with  them,  by  the 
true  descendants  of  Shem  and  Japhcth,  all  of  whom 
are  accursed  races  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  Canaan, 
as  I  have  shown  in  former  chapters,  was  condemned 
to  perpetual  slavery;  from  that  event  springs  a 
decree  or  edict  in  the  laws  of  the  code  of  Nature. 
Abraham  trespassed  upon  that  law  when  he  yielded 
to  the  overtures  of  his  doubting  wife,  and  took 
Ilagar  to  his  bosom,  who  was  doubtless  a  descendant 
of  Canaan,  whose  whole  race  was  accursed  to  per- 
petual degradation  and  slavery.  See  Gen.  ix.  20-27. 
To  show  us  that  any  matrimonial  intercourse  or 
connection  with  them  was  divinely  forbidden,  we 
have  the  Arabs  of  the  clesert,  as  living  monuments 
of  the  displeasure  of  Almighty  God  to  any  mixture 
of  blood  between  the  pure  descendants  of  Shem  and 
Japheth  and  the  descendants  of  Canaan,  the  grand- 
son of  Noah,  who  doubtless  was  accursed  for  making 
fun  of  his  old  grandfather,  while  'laboring  under  a 
misfortune.  The  Africans  are  living  monuments  of 


AFRICAN   SLAVERY.  225 

Jehovah's  displeasure  towards  children  who  "badly 
treat  their  parents.  They,  the  Canaanites,  may  be 
improved,  but  will  never  be  capable  of  self-govern- 
ment ;  and  slavery  is  their  only  hope  among  men. 
I  have  said  enough  on  these  points  in  previous 
chapters.  The  above  is  sufficient  to  show  that  cer- 
tain unchangeable  laws  of  human  nature  on  which 
I  now  propose  to  give  a  few  thoughts  cannot  be 
broken  with  impunity.  I  have  said  enough  to  show 
that  all  men  are  not  created  equal. 

Then  the  question  arises,  Can  the  black  and  white 
man  live  together  on  a  social,  political,  and  domestic 
equality  ?  and  if  they  could,  would  such  an  associa- 
tion be  sanctioned  by  the  divine  law  or  the  laws. of 
Nature  ?  Let  us  look  at  this  without  prejudice  or 
favor,  and  with  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  all  mankind.  It  is  conceded  on  all 
sides  that  liberty  of  conscience,  peace,  popular 
government,  and  union,  with  great  physical  health 
and  longevity,  are  the  greatest  blessings  of  God  to 
mankind.  This  being  conceded,  then  it  must  also 
be  that  man's  first  duty  is  to  cultivate  those  blessings 
above  all  else  that  is  human,  and  expel  every  in- 
truder upon  those  laws  that  are  life  guards  of  our 
physical  and  social  salvation.  The  laws  of  Nature 
are  to  some  extent  protected  by  both  divine  and 
civil  law.  For  instance,  the  Sabbath  day  is  neces- 
sary for  the  health  and  longevity  of  man.  Gluttonous 
and  intemperance  of  every  kind  is  prohibited,  with 
intermarriages  between  the  whites  and  blacks,  row- 
dyism, and  all  overt  extravagances  that  overtax  the 
physical  strength  of  man.  Human  laws  inflict  cor- 


226  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

poreal  punishments,  fines,  and  imprisonments  upon 
man  for  transgressing  of  many  of  the  laws  of  Nature, 
but  the  laws  of  Nature  inflict  more  terrible  punish- 
ments for  disobedience  to  her  requirements,  all  of 
which  are  imperative  and  unchangeable.  The  pen- 
alties are  bodily  afflictions,  poverty,  degradation, 
loathsome  diseases,  premature  death,  or  long  sickly 
lives.  I  presume  all  will  agree  that  human  ingenuity 
ought  to  be  exerted  to  prevent  any  and.  all  such  ex- 
travagances, which  are  so  fatal  to  the  good  of  man- 
kind. No  law  could  be  too  severe,  and  no  punish- 
ment too  extreme  for  that  man  or  set  of  men  who 
would  establish  places  to  promote  disobedience  to 
the  laws  that  will  entail  with  certainty  ruin  to  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Now  if  I  should  succeed  in  showing  that  the  eman- 
cipation of  all  the  slaves  in  this  country  will  place 
the  negro  race  on  a  political,  and  an  attempt  to  social 
equality,  and  that  that  system  will  produce  a  diseased, 
sickly,  short-lived,  and  unhappy  race  of  men  and 
women,  would  it  not  be  our  duty  to  close  every 
avenue  in  our  power  that  leads  to  such  fatal  results  ? 
I  have  already  alluded  to  the  mulatto  race,  in  a 
former  chapter,  as  being  very  weak,  sickly,  and 
short-lived  on  the  general.  There  is  not  the  slight- 
est danger  of  a  general  or  universal  amalgamation 
of  blood  between  the  Anglo-American  and  African 
races  in  this  country,  but  if  the  universal  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves  should  take  place,  enough  would 
be  found  among  the  Saxons  to  equal  the  Africans  in 
number,  who  from  various  causes  would  be  reduced 
to  a  level  with  Africans,  which  causes  might  be 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  227 

dissipation,  crime,  and  lazy  habits,  and  who  would 
feel  more  at  home,  perhaps,  and  happier  among  the 
black  race  than  among  the  whites.  The  negroes 
being  free  and  consequently  on  a  civil  equality  and 
in  competition  with  the  whites,  the  lower  classes  of 
the  Saxons  would  unite  their  interests  with  the  Afri- 
cans, in  competition  with  the  higher  order  of  the 
Anglo-Americans,  and  the  result  would  be  inter- 
marriages or  mixing  of  blood  in  some  way  between 
the  negroes  and  lower  orders  of  the  whites.  This 
would  result  mainly  from  interest  or  a  combination 
between  the  two,  to  try  to  compete  with  their  supe- 
riors. This  would  produce  in  a  very  short  space  of 
time  an  immense  population  of  mulattoes,  who  are, 
with,  but  few  exceptions,  a  very,  sickly  and  short- 
lived race,  especially  in  the  northern  climes  of  this 
country.  This  population  would  rapidly  increase 
at  first.  The  antipathies  between  them  and  the  pure 
whites  would  be  too  great  and  bitter  for  them  to 
dwell  together,  and  insurrections  would  be  inevita- 
table  between  the  two  races.  This  would  not  be  a 
sectional  strife,  as  the  strife  now  is,  and  a  complete 
extermination  of  the  weaker  party  would  be  the 
inevitable  result. 

Suppose  this  should  not  turn  out  to  be  the  case ; 
then  say  the  amalgamationists,  we  should  all  soon  be 
of  one  color,  and  one  people ;  just  what  they  (the  aboli- 
tionists) have  been  laboring  for  so  many  years,  in 
order  to  end  the  prejudice  of  color,  that  our  great 
nation  might  be  at  peace.  This  I  admit  would  be  a 
good  thing  if  it  was  compatible  witli  the  righteous 
laws  of  nature  and  nature's  God ;  and  a  promotion 


228  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

of  civilization,  and  a  general  genuine  physical  health 
and  long  life  should.be  the  result.  But  if  the  con- 
trary should  be  the  inevitable  consequence,  then 
your  whole  scheme  of  peace,  union,  and  happiness 
falls  to  the  ground.  The  scheme  is  so  incompatible 
with  all  the  blessings  of  union,  peace,  tranquillity, 
harmony,  and  righteousness,  that  it  is  surprising  that 
any  man  or  woman  could  be  found  in  this  land  of 
schools  and  science  so  led  by  wild  fanaticism,  who 
would  "embrace  such  a  doctrine  for  one  moment; 
yet  it  is  even  so.  Let  us  examine  it  and  see  how  it 
will  stand  the  test  of  the  unchangeable  laws  of  human 
nature. 

It  has  been  two  hundred  and  forty  two  years  since 
the  first  cargo  of  African  slaves  landed  in  this  coun- 
try, and  legal  records  show  that  laws  were  passed  in 
some  of  the  colonies  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago 
to  prevent  a  spurious  color  being  made  between  the 
white  and  black  races.  I  mention  this  to  show  that 
mulattoes  must  have  been  produced  that  far  back, 
or  those  laws  would  not  have  been  passed.  Now  if 
mulattodom  commenced  so  nearly  with  the  first 
introduction  of  negro  slavery  in  this  country,  how 
is  it  that  there  are  so  few  mulatto  families  ?  Is  it 
not  strange  that  they  are  so  much  less  prolific  than 
either  the  pure  whites  or  negroes  ?  You  may  bring 
together  in  matrimony  two  individuals  of  any  two 
separate  nations  of  the  world  of  the  same  pure  color, 
and  you  will  find  that  their  children  will  not  only 
be  very  healthy  and  long  lived,  but  exceedingly 
prolific,  generation  after  generation,  through  centuries 
of  time ;  but  if  you  marry  the  pure  white  and  negro 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  229 

people  together,  they  will  be  as  prolific  as  any  others, 
but  their  children  will,  three  to  one,  be  puny,  sickly, 
and  short  lived,  and  cease  to  multiply  almost  if  not 
altogether  by  the  third  generation,  and  even  the 
first  produces  very  sparingly,  with  few  exceptions, 
unless  those  children  return  directly  to  the  white  or 
black  of  the  pure  colors.  But  that  is  even  more 
uncommon  than  breeding  between  the  pure  black 
or  white. 

•  The  better  class  of  mulattoes  are  as  much  preju- 
diced against  the  negroes  as  the  whites  are,  and  was 
it  not  for  circumstances  that  force  them  in  company 
with  the  negro,  the  antipathies  would  be  far  greater. 
The  negroes  are  very  jealous  _  of  the  mulattoes, 
because  of  the  improvement  they  see  in  their  colo* 
and  general  appearance.  The  whites  know  they 
would  sink  themselves  just  as  much  by  an  inter- 
course with  the  mulattoes  as  with  the  negroes,  there- 
fore a  return  by  the  mulattoes  to  either  of  the  pure 
bloods  is  almost  entirely  prohibited-  by  a  law  that 
cannot  be  controlled  by  man  unless  he  falls  to  a  level 
with  the  beast. 

The  amalgamation! sts  say,  this  prejudice  of  human 
colors  is  very  wicked,  and  ought  to  be  done  away 
with  altogether.  I  say  it  is  not.  The  prejudice  of 
color  is  suffered  by  our  great  Maker,  if  not  divinely 
produced,  to  prevent  spurious  mixtures  of  colors  or 
blood ;  he  having  in  his  "providence  produced  the 
colors  and  appearances  of  these  two  distinct  races  of 
men,  for  the  good  of  the  "people?  The  divine  dis- 
pleasure is  so  clearly  apparent  in  the  mixture  of  the 
blood  of  these  two  distinct  races,  that  I  am  at  a  loss 
20 


230  AFK1CAN  bLAVEKY, 

in  somo  cases  to  understand  how  Christian  men  can 
be  found  who  defend  it,  and  even  advocate  it ;  but 
in  others  I  am  not  disappointed,  for  the  devil  hates 
all  that  is  good,  and  it  is  his  business  to  advocate  any 
and  e^'cry  principle  that  is  in  any  way  calculated  to 
demoralize  society,  or  depopulate  this  part  of  the 
world ;  therefore  infideljty  and  abolitionism  run 
almost  parallel.  It  is  a  mistake  that  there  are  a 
greater  ratio  of  mulattoes  produced  among  slaves 
than  there  are  among  free  people  of  color.  But  the 
South  is  more  congenial  to  their  health  and  longe- 
vity than  the  North.  Now,  these  are  natural  laws 
that  no  power  under  heaven  can  change.  Though 
all  the  civil  and  uncivilized  nations  and  tribes  of  the 
earth  may  unite  for  that  purpose,  they  could  not 
change  one  "jot  or  tittle"  of  those  laws,  for  they  are 
unchangeable  and  irrevocable. 

Now,  it  being  so  clearly  proved  by  circumstances 
and  experience  that  any  interference  with  those  laws 
is  fatal  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  our  race,  and 
equally  so  to  the  poor  unfortunate  negro,  and  to  the 
whole  human  race,  is  it  nut  our  duty  as  a  Christian 
and  free  people,  to  watch  against  and  close  up  every 
avenue  that  leads  to  such  fatal,  corrupt,  and  demor- 
alizing results?  There  is  no  room  for  a  doubt  that 
if  there  were  an  equal  number  of  negroes  to  the  white 
people  in  this  country,  and  then  let  them  be  prohi- 
bited by  an  irrevocable  decree  that  there  should  be 
no  marriages  except  between  the  white  and  black 
races,  and  all  sexual  intercourse  was  prohibited 
between  the  white  people,  and  all  emigration  to  this 
country  stopped,  the  whole  country  would  become 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  231 

entirely  depopulated  in  one  hundred  and  twenty  years. 
Mulattoes  are  a  forbidden  race,  and  to  prohibit  a 
mixture  of  blood  with  the  negroes  by  the  white 
people,  our  great  Creator  has  made  these  laws  of 
nature  to  prohibit  a  new  race  of  men  being  formed 
between  those  two  very  distinct  races  of  mankind. 
He  gave  us  the  negroes  for  our  benefit,  and  their 
good,  and  if  we  prove  faithless  to  our  trust,  we  shall 
be  "  whipped  with  many  stripes." 
-  Those  who  deny  these  doctrines  will  please  show 
the  contrary,  by  pointing  out  unchanged  mulatto 
families,  who  descended  from  the  pure  stock  of  white 
or  black  one  hundred  years  ago ;  I  will  then  agree 
that  there  are  some  exceptions,  but  you  will  find 
them  very  scarce. 

Prof.  Adams  says,  that  the  "  pure  mulattoes  cease 
to  produce  altogether  after  the  third  generation,  and 
that  it  is  very  common  for  the  first  generation  of 
pure  mulattoes  to  be  as  barren  as  mules,  unless  they 
marry  with  the  pure  white  or  black  blood,  and  even 
their  offsprings  are  mostly  delicate  and  short-lived." 
Quarter-bloods  are  healthier  and  longer-lived  than 
half-bloods,  and,  as  they  near  either  pure  blood,  they 
increase  in  health  and  length  of  life.  If  these  are 
not  evidences  of  divine  prohibition  of  the  mixing  of 
blood  between  these  two  -races,  I  don't  know  how 
anything  on  earth  could  be  sustained  by  circumstan- 
tial evidence.  The  pure  white  blood  is  injured  by 
mixing  with  any  red,  copper,  or  yellow  tribes  on  the 
globe,  but  as  they  mix  with  those  who  approach 
nearer  to  the  black  or  negro  race,  they  reduce  or 
degrade  their  issue  more. 


232  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

The  abolitionists  attribute  mulattodom  to  slavery. 
This  is  a  misrepresentation.  The  ratio  of  free  mu- 
lattoes  in  the  slave  States  is  perhaps  five  to  one  of 
the  mulatto  slaves.  This  shows  how  clearly  eman- 
cipation increases  amalgamation ;  and  just  in  the 
ratio  that  the  negroes  are  freed,  amalgamation  will 
increase.  The  ratio  of  original  mulattoes  born  in 
the  free  States  exceeds  those  born  by  or  from  slave 
women  five  to  one.  There  are  comparatively  few 
mulattoes  born  from  white  women;  but  ten,  perhaps, 
in  the  free  States  to  one  in  the  slave  States.  These 
declarations  will  astonish  many,  for  disunionists  or 
abolitionists  (they  are  almost  synonymous)  have 
been  trying  to  prejudice  the  South  by  foul  slander 
so  many  years,  that  good  people  have  got  to  believe 
the  slander.  I  don't  wish  to  be  understood  to  say 
that  the  people  of  the  southern  States  are  generally 
better  than  they  are  in  the  free  States,  for  that  would 
not  be  the  truth,  but  I  will  say  that  the  ratio  of 
anti-constitutional  union  men,  up  to  the  Presidential 
election  of  1860,  in  the  free  States  were  twenty  to 
one  of  those  of  the  slave  States ;  neither  do  I  mean 
to  say  that  the  people  of  the  free  States  are  more  li- 
centious and  dishonest  than  the  people  of  the  slave 
States,  for  they  are  not ;  therefore,  the  fact  of  the 
greater  ratio  of  mulattoes  being  produced  in  the  free 
States,  is  the  legitimate  consequence  of  the  universal 
freedom  of  the  negroes  in  those  States,  there  being 
more  loose  bad  men  in  the  free  States,  and  perhaps 
in  a  little  greater  ratio,  than  in  the  slave  States. 
The  city  of  New  York,  for  instance,  might  be  caijed 
the  great  metropolis  of  the  United  States  for  bad 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  233 

men,  and  the  worst  of  men,  as  well  as  the  greatest 
commercial  city  of  the  country ;  it  also  contains  a 
very  large  number  of  the  best  and  most  upright  men 
in  the  world. 

The  idea  that  there  is  a  greater  ratio  of  mulattoes 
produced  in  free  States  than  in  slave  States  is  very 
insulting  to  many,  but  if  they  will  examine  the  ques- 
tion ibr  themselves,  they  will  soon  see  how  far  they 
have  been  misled  by  designing  men  and  women. 
We  all  know  there  are  a  great  many  more  mulattoes 
produced  in  the  slave  States  than  in  the  free,  but 
you  must  not  forget  that  there  are  about  twenty 
negroes  in  the  slave  States  to  one  in  the  free ;  yet 
the  mulattodom  of  the  slave  States  is  not  in  half 

that  ratio  to  the  free.     It  is  well  known  that  most 

« 

of  the  Northern  men  who  move  South  become  the 
most  ultra  pro-slavers  very  soon  after  they  arrive 
there,  and  the  stronger  their  opposition  to  slavery 
was  before  they  left  here,  the  stronger  their  pro- 
slavery  feelings  become  there.  Why  is  it  so? 
Simply  because  they  see  how  they  have  been  mis- 
led by  designing  men,  who  profess  to  be  such  great 
philanthropists.  This  is  common  on  all  subjects  in 
dispute,  with  all  who  are  honest,  when  they  see  they 
have  be^en  misled  and  deceived  by  their  leaders. 

I  will  now  return  to  the  main  subject  of  this  chap- 
ter, and  will  give  the  following  statistics  gathered 
by  the  late  Dr.  Jesse  Chickering : — 

"  It  appears  that  the  blacks  die  in  Massachusetts  in  a  ratio 

of  three  to  one,  as  compared  with  the  whites.    This  state  of 

things  is  the  result  of  both  moral  and  physical  causes.    The 

depressing  influence  of  extreme  social  hardships,  which  no 

20* 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

philanthropy  can  alleviate,  accounts  in  a  great  measure  for 
this  unequal  mortality,  while  physical  causes  operate  perhaps 
still  more  to  the  same  effect." 

Of  the  latter,  we  may  learn  something  from  a 
paper  read  a  few  years  since  before  the  Boston  So- 
ciety of  Natural  History,  by  Dr.  Samuel  Kneeland, 
from  which  the  following  is  an  extract : — 

"  The  mulatto  is  often  triumphantly  appealed  to  as  a  proof 
that  hybrid  races  are  prolific  without  end.  Every  physician 
who  has  seen  much  practice  among  the  mulattoes  knows  that 
in  the  first  place,  they  are  far  less  prolific  than  the  blacks  or 
whites — the  statistics  of  New  York  State  and  city  confirm  this 
fact  of  daily  observation ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  when  they 
are  prolific,  the  progeny  is  frail,  diseased,  short-lived,  rarely 
arriving  at  robust  manhood  or  maturity.  Physicians  need  not 
be  told  of  the  comparatively  enormous  amount  of  scrofulous 
and  deteriorated  constitutions  fgund  among  those  hybrids. 

"  The  Colonization  Journal  furnishes  some  statistics  with 
regard  to  the  colored  population  of  New  York  city,  which 
must  prove  painfully  interesting  to  all  reflecting  people.  The 
late  census  showed  that,  while  other  classes  of  our  population 
in  all  parts  of  the  country  were  increasing  in  an  enormous 
ratio,  the  colored  were  decreasing.  In  the  State  of  New  York, 
in  1840,  there  were  fifty  thousand ;  in  1850,  only  forty-seven 
thousand.  In  New  York  city,  in  1840,  there  were  eighteen 
thousand;  in  1850,  seventeen  thousand.  According  to  the 
New  York  City  Inspector's  report  for  the  four  months  ending 
with  October,  1853  :— 

1.  The  whites  present  marriages         .        .        2,230 
The  colored        "  .  26 

2.  The  whites          "    births       .        .        .        6,780 
The  colored        "        "  70 

3.  The  whites          "    deaths  about    .        .        6,000 

(exclusive  of  2,152  among  116,000  newly- 
arrived  emigrants,  and  others  unac- 
climated.)  4 

The  colored  exhibit  deaths     .        .        .  160 


AFRICAN  SLAVEEY.  235 

giving  a  ratio  of  deaths  among  acclimated  whites  to  colored 
persons  of  thirty-seven  to  one ;  while  the  births  are  ninety- 
seven  whites  to  one 'colored.  The  ratio  of  whites  to  colored  is 
as  follows  :  Marriages,  140  to  1 ;  births,  97  to  1 ;  deaths  37  to 
1.  According  to  the  ratio  of  the  population,  the  marriages 
among  the  whites,  during  this  time,  are  three  times  greater  than 
among  the  colored;  the  number  of  births  among  the  whites 
is  twice  as  great.  In  deaths,  the  colored  exceed  the  white 
not  only  according  to  ratio  of  population,  but  show  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  deaths  to  seventy-six  births,  or  seven  deaths 
to  three  births,  more  than  two  to  one. 

"  The  same  is  true  of  Boston,  as  far  as  the  census  returns 
will  enable  us  to  judge.  In  Shattuck's  census  of  1845,  it  ap- 
pears that  in  that  year  there  were  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
less  colored  persons  in  Boston  than  in  1840  ;  the  total  number 
being  1842.  From  the  same  work,  the  deaths  are  given  for  a 
period  of  fifty  years,  from  1725  to  1775,  showing  the  mortality 
among  the  blacks  to  have  been  twice  that  among  the  whites. 
Of  late  years,  Boston,  probably,  does  not  differ  from  itself  in 
former  times,  nor  from  New  York  at  present.  In  the  com- 
pendium of  the  United  States  census  for  1850,  p.  '64,  it  is  said 
that  the  '  declining  ratio  of  the  increase  of  the  free  colored 
in  every  section  is  notable.  In  New  England  the  increase  is 
now  almost  nothing ;'  in  the  southwest  and  the  southern  States 
the  increase  is  much  reduced ;  it  is  only  in  the  northwest  that 
there  is  any  increase,  'indicating  a  large  emigration  to  that 
quarter.'  What  must  become  of  the  black  population  at  this 
rate  in  a  few  years  ?  "What  are  the  causes  of  thi#  decay  ? 
They  do  not  disregard  the  laws  of  social  and  physical  well- 
being  any  more  than,  if  they  do  as  much  as,  the  whites.  It 
seems  to  me  one  of  the  necessary  consequences  of  attempts 
to  mix  races  ;  the  hybrids  cease  to  be  prolific  ;  the  race  must 
die  out  as  mulatto ;  it  must  either  keep  black  unmixed,  or 
become  extinct.  Nobody  doubts  that  a  mixed  offspring  may 
be  produced  by  intermarriage  of  different  races — the  Griquas, 
the  Papuas,  the  Cafusos  of  Brazil,  so  elaborately  numerated 
by  Pritchard,  sufficiently  prove  this.  The  question  is,  whether 
they  would  be  perpetuated  if  strictly  confined  to  intermarriage 


236  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

nmong  themselves  ?  From  the  facts  in  the  case  of  mulattoes, 
we  say  unquestionably  not.  The  same  is  true,  as  far  as  has 
been  observed,  of  the  mixture  of  the  white  and  red  races,  in 
Mexico,  Central  and  South  America.  The  well-known  infre- 
quency  of  mixed  offspring  between  the  European  and  Austra- 
lian races,  led  the  Colonial  government  to  official  inquiries, 
and  to  the  result,  that  in  thirty-one  districts,  numbering  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants,  the  half-breeds  did  not  exceed  two  hun- 
dred, though  the  connection  of  the  two  races  was  very  inti- 
mate. 

"  If  any  one  wishes  to  be  convinced  of  the  inferiority  and 
tendency  to  disease  in  the  mulatto  race,  even  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  pure  blood  of  the  black  and  white  race,  he  need 
only  witness  what  I  did  recently,  viz.:  the  disembarkation  from 
a  steamboat  of  a  colored  picnic  party,  of  both  sexes,  of  all  ages, 
from  the  infant  in  arms  to  the  aged,  of  all  hues,  from  the  darkest 
black  to  a  color  approaching  white.  There  was  no  old  mulatto, 
though  there  were  several  old  negroes;  many  fine-looking 
mulattoes  of  both  sexes,  evidently  the  first  offspring  from  the 
pure  races  ;  then  came  the  youths  and  children,  and  here  could 
be  read  the 'sad  truth  at  a  glance.  The  little  blacks  were 
agile  looking ;  the  little  mulattoes,  youths  and  young  women, 
farther  removed  from  the  pure  stock,  were  sickly,  feeble,  with 
frightful  scars  and  skin  diseases,  and  scrofula  stamped  on 
every  feature  and  every  visible  part  of  the  body.  Here  was 
•hybridity  of  human  races,  under  the  most  favorable  circum- 
stauces  of  worldly  condition  and  social  position." 

It  seems  to  me  the  above  would  be  sufficient  to 
satisfy  any  class  of  men,  even  the  abolitionists ;  but 
the  antislavery  question  being  the  only  question  by 
which  this  Union,  the  succor  and  glory  of  man, 
could  possibly  be  destroyed,  therefore  this  powerful 
testimony  is  rejected  by  the  hosts  of  disunionists  here 
in  the  free  States.  Pardon  me  for  these  out  of  place 
remarks,  for  they  come  up  so  strongly  and  vividly 
before  me,  that  my  pen  seems  almost  involuntarily 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  237 

to  write  them  down.  Hybridity  in  the  North  is 
more  fatal  than  in  the  South.  The  half  breeds  and 
quadroons  are  not  so  sickly  and  puny  in  the  warm 
climates,  therefore  not  so  short  lived,  but  yet  fatal 
enough  to  be  visible  to  every  observing  slaveholder, 
who  knows  too  well  the  fatal  effects  to  his  interest, 
of  having  the  blood  of  his  negroes  mixed  with  white 
blood,  to  encourage  it  in  any  way  whatever,  even  if 
he  had  no  moral  objections  to  such  an  ungodly  busi- 
ness; and  yet  every  slaveholder  is  accused  of  en- 
couraging it  between  his  own  sons  and  his  negro 
slaves,  and  of  engaging  in  it  himself.  Now  let  us 
ask  ourselves  the  question,  How  would  we  like  to 
be  thus  slandered  by  the  Southern  people?  Just 
suppose  the  tables  were  turned,  how  would  we  like 
it?  I  have  shown  already  that  hybridity  is  fatal 
to  the  human  race  in  this  country,  and  is  prohibited 
by  laws  altogether  out  of  our  control.  Then  we 
may  despair  of  ever  bringing  the  two  races  together 
on  a  social  equality  on  that  plan.  It  is  wonderful 
how  any  white  man  or  woman  can  sink  themselves 
low  enough  to  desire  such  a  ruinous  and  hell-JDegotten 
scheme. 

I  will  give  one  more  very  singular  and  striking 
result  "hi  hybridity,  which  I  hope  will  be  noticed 
with  special  attention.  In  the  animal,  hybridity 
hardeneth,  and  increaseth  longevity.  Take  the 
horse  and  the  ass,  and  breed  them  together,  and 
their  offspring  will  be,  and  is,  almost  like  brass. 
There  are  no  hardships  too  great  for  the  mule; 
although  much  less  in  size  than  the  horse,  yet  he  is 
far  more  useful  for  general  drudgery,  and  suited  to 


238  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

all  climes.  Whether  in  the  torrid  or  frigid  zones,  the 
mules  are  the  same  long-lived  beast  of  burden,  and 
no  hardships  seem  too  much  for  their  grizzly  nature 
in  any  climes.  Take  the  wild  and  tame  goose,  or 
the  wild  and  tame  duck,  or  the  common  and  Mus- 
cova  ducks,  and  breed  them  together,  their  offspring 
(though  entirely  neutral  and  unproductive)  will  be 
strong  and  long-lived. 

Now,  how  is  it,  that  hybridity  or  mixing  of  blood 
among  the  animal  creation  produces  such  great 
strength  and  longevity,  while  between  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  African  it  is  so  fatal  to  health  and  life, 
and  almost  as  unproductive  in  the  propagation  of 
their  species  as  the  animal  ?  Is  there  no  Providence 
in  this?  Is  it  all  by  chance?  Has  it  no  meaning? 
And  how  is  it  that  the  negro  is  so  much  healthier 
and  longer  lived  in  the  torrid  than  in  the  frigid 

o  o 

zones?  And  yet,  like  the  mule,  they  will  not  culti- 
vate the  soil  without  a  master.  Is  this  not  too  sig- 
nificant to  be  without  meaning?  Then  is  it  not 
clear  that  the  negroes  were  originally  intended  to 
be  used  by  the  white  man  to  do  the  drudgery  in  the 
hot  sun  of  the  tropical  regions  of  the  world  ?  This 
being  the  case,  which  all  experience  and  history 
shows  the  fact,  and  the  demonstrative  evidence  now 
manifest  by  the  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  in 
the  British,  Spanish,  and  French  Provinces,  from 
thirty  to  forty  years  ago,  without  one  palliating  cir- 
cumstance having  even  yet  grown  out  of  that  scheme 
of  degradation  and  ruin  to  the  poor  African,  and  the 
almost  incalculable  loss  to  the  whole  civilized  world 
by  that  scheme,  ought  to  satisfy  every  good  man. 


AFKICAN  SLAVERY.  239 

How,  then,  are  these  two  distinct  races  to  meet  °n 
a  social,  political,  and  domestic  equality  ?  Would 
you  have  a  people  totally  incapable  of  self-govern- 
ment to  hold  their  proportion  of  the  offices  ?  Would 
you  have  the  sixth  part  of  our  police  force  to  be 
African  negroes,  or  the  sixth  part  of  our  lawyers, 
our  legislators,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
'and  every  sixth  President  and  Yice-President  to  be 
of  that  race  ?  How  would  you  like  to  go  into  our 
Supreme  Court  in  Bank,  and  .there  see  a  black 
negro  the  presiding  judge?  Would  you  have  the 
sixth  part  of  our  courts  to  be  negroes  ?  Even  sup- 
posing this  could  •  be  done  without  a  social  and 
domestic  equality,  which  would  be  impossible,  would 
you  be  willing  to  force  anything  upon  us  that  would 
be  so  extremely  forbidding?  You  know  all  our 
senses  revolt  at  the  thought.  Would  you  change 
the  beauty  of  the  Anglo-American  race  for  the  sake 
of  one  of  the  most  obnoxious  and  forbidding  races 
on  earth,  to  all  our  senses?  Would  you  sink  us 
from  the  high  and  noble  state  God  has  given  us  in 
the  world,  down  to  heathen  and  barbarism  ?  Don't 
you  suppose  that  if  God  had  willed  such  a  mixture, 
he  would  have  thus  created  us?  And  if  it  was 
right  for  us  to  be  on  an  equality  with  African  ne- 
groes, would  he  have  placed  those  laws  in  human 
nature  so  disastrous  to  its  perpetuation  and  domes- 
tic happiness  ?  I  think  the  party  who  advocate  these 
principles  are  not  only  lower  than  the  angels,  but  a 
little  lower  than  the  devil. 

Now  the  question  naturally  arises,  can  the  negroes 
all  be  set  free,  and  allowed  to  remain  with  us,  with- 


240  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

out.  being  placed  on  a  political  and  social  equality, 
at  least,  or  be  completely  exterminated?  Now,  if 
you  set  them  all  free,  one  or  more  of  these  events  will 
come  up  in  our  history.  Our  Heavenly  Father  has 
made  us  to  rule,  and  the  negroes  to  serve,  and  if  we, 
through  a  pretended  sympathy,  or  a  false  philan- 
thropy, right  in  the  face  of  all  common  sense  and 
reason,  set  aside  his  holy  arrangements  for  the  good 
of  mankind  and  his  own  glory,  and  tamper  with  his 
laws,  we  shall  be  overthrown  and  eternally  degraded, 
and  perhaps  made  subjects  of  some  other  civilized 
nation.  This  will  be  our  doom  as  sure  as  God  lives. 
Then,  will  you  persevere  in  such  foolery,  right  in 
the  face  of  truth  and  righteousness,  with  your  heaven- 
daring  schemes  of  wickedness,  that  will  as  assuredly 
overthrow  this  great  and  glorious  Union  as  the 
scheme  shall  be  adopted,  or  bring  about  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  whole  negro  race  in  this  country  ?  The 
laws  of  nature  and  nature's  God  prohibit  the  mixing 
of  the  two  colors  into  one  blood,  which  ends  that 
plan.  Colonization  in  their  native  land  of  all  the 
negroes  would  be  so  nearly  impracticable,  that  it 
will  never  be  done,  and  no  other  spot  on  this  green 
earth  will  do  for  them.  It  would  be  the  height  of 
cruelty  and  barbarism  to  send  them  anywhere  else. 
If  they  could  all  be  colonized  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
they  would  fall  back  into  heathenism  and  barbarism 
in  less  than  fifty  years ;  for  the  civilization  of  Af- 
rica will  cease  as  soon,  or  very  soon  after,  the  influx 
of  fresh  supplies  shall  cease  to  arrive  there  from  a 
true  and  complete  civilized  nation.  That  being  the 
only  way  that  the  civilization  of  Africa  can  be  sue- 


AFBICAN  SLAVERY.  241 

cessful  and  perpetual — all  other  schemes  for  the 
safety  of  the  negro  in  this  country,  and  the  civiliza- 
tion of  Africa  being  out  of  the  question,  'except 
through  African  slavery  in  the  United  States. 

These  ideas  will  be  denounced  by  all  the  aboli- 
tionists in  the  whole  country,  whether  republicans, 
democrats,  or  Union  men;  but  denunciations  will 
not  disprove  them.  Don't  understand  me  to  be 
opposed  to  colonization,  for  I  am  a  strong  advo- 
cate of  that  scheme,  for  great  good  has  been  effected 
by  it  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  But  if  all  the  Africans 
in  the  United  States  should  be  colonized  there,  it 
would  mainly  end  the  deep  interest  that  is  felt  for 
the  success  of  those  colonies,  and  it  is  universally 
admitted  that  the  black  race  is  a  lower  order  of  the 
human  family  than  any  other.  It  is  asserted  by 
many  of  the  best  and  most  experienced  men  on  earth 
that  they  are  not  now  or  ever  will  be  capable  of  self- 
government.  But  as  long  as  we  keep  them  here, 
and  colonize  the  surplus  every  year,  and  those  who 
are  willing  to  go,  a  government  will  be  kept  up 
there  of  some  sort,  that  will  be  better  than  no  govern- 
ment at  all. 

Every  circumstance  seems  to  prove  that  slavery 
in  the  United  States  was  the  work  of  God,  for  the 
civilization  of  the  African  race,  that  it  produces  a 
greater  wonderment  in  my  mind  than  any  other 
strange  thing  I  have  ever  seen  or  heard,  that  so 
many  sensible  men  can  be  found  who  reject  the  idea 
as  a  wicked  one,  and  denounce  all  who  embrace  it  as 
murderers,  thieves,  and  robbers.  If  all  such  would 
only  divest  themselves  of  all  prejudice,  and  examine 
21 


242  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  question  as  Christian  men  ought,  they  would 
soon  see  it  in  a  different  light,  and  change  their 
opinion  altogether  on  the  question. 

Prior  to  1620,  every  scheme  was  adopted  to  suc- 
cessfully cultivate  the  soil  of  the  tropics  of  the 
United  States.  Three-fourths  of  the  whites  who 
attempted  to  work  the  soil  in  the  hot  sun,  soon 
sickened  and  died ;  they  then  enslaved  the  Indians, 
and  they  died  off  faster  than  the  whites.  When 
despair  had  filled  every  man  in  the  southern  colonies, 
and  they  were  fast  coming  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  would  be  compelled  to  strike  their  tents  and 
leave  those  rich  and  sunny  climes  to  the  Indians 
and  wild  beasts,  and  retire  in  hopeless  despair,  news 
came  that  a  vessel  had  arrived  from  the  Portugal 
possessions  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  with  a  small  cargo 
of  Africans.  The  colonies  concluded  to  try  the  new 
experiment.  They  purchased  them  and  set  them  to 
work  in  the  fields,  looking  for  the  same  result  as 
they  had  from  the  Indians  and  white  men ;  but  after 
the  experiment  had  been  sufficiently  tried,  to  their 
agreeable  surprise  they  found  them  just  exactly 
suited  to  their  wants,  and  instead  of  becoming  weak, 
sickly,  and  to  a  premature  death,  as  the  white  men 
and  Indians  did,  they  waxed  strong  under  the 
yoke  of  bondage.  The  hot  sun  and  hard  labor  were 
soon  found  to  be  more  congenial  to  their  health  and 
longevity,  than  to  the  beasts  of  burden,  or  labor,  or 
idleness  in  the  shade.  Another  most  remarkable 
fact  showed  itself  very  soon.  They  were  altogether 
unlike  the  Indians,  who  hated  their  masters,  and 
would  slay  them  in  secret  at  every  opportunity ;  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  243 

negroes  loved  their  masters,  and  leaned  upon  them  as  a 
child  leans  upon  its  parents,  and  do  to  this  day, 
wherever  their  minds  have  not  been  poisoned  by 
designing,  wicked  white  men  and  women.  They  thus 
continued  for  two  hundred  years,  contented  and  happy, 
loving  their  masters  more  than  any  other  earthly 
object,  and  still  do  wherever  they  have  not  been 
deceived  by  designing  disunionists,  and  haters  of  a 
republican  form  of  government. 

Now  the  fact  is  that  negroes  are  so  much  happier, 
healthier,  and  longer  lived  in  slavery  than  they  are 
free,  and  that  free  negroes  have  never  been  of  any 
earthly  use  to  themselves  or  anybody  else,  in  this 
country,  as  I  have  fully  shown  in  former  chapters. 
No  light  never  could  have  been  thrown,  either 
gospel  or  any  kind  of  civilization,  into  that  great 
and  benighted  country  (Africa),  had  negro  slavery 
never  have  been  introduced  into  the  United  States. 
All  the  good  that  has  ever  come  to  the  African  in 
any  shape  or  form,  has  been  through  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery;  and  every  attempt  to  change 
that  relation  has  proved  a  great  curse  to  both 
races  in  our  once  happy  land.  He  who  labors  to 
break  up  the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  is  a  trai- 
tor to  heaven's  righteous  plans  of  government  among 
men,  and  an  enemy  to  the  true  happiness  of  man- 
kind. See  now  what  terrible  curses  have  fallen 
upon  the  whole  country  by  our  interfering  with 
that  institution.  Who  could  have  believed  two 
years  ago  that  saints  could  have  so  soon  been  turned 
into  devils!  The  best  and  most  tender  hearted 
liberal  Christian  men  and  women,  and  the  greatest 


V 

244  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

lovers  of  our  national  constitution  and  union  oJ 
States,  seem  now  to  be  wicked  spirits,  who  glory  in 
murder  and  the  destruction  of  liberty  and  property 
Why  this  sudden  change,  and  who  or  what  has  done 
it  ?  It  is  because  of  an  attempt  to  abolish  slavery 
in  this  country.  It  is  because  of  the  determination 
in  the  North  never  to  cease  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  in  the  States,  where  God  has  so  com- 
pletely provided  for  its  existence,  that  it  should  be 
a  necessity.  But  in  his  goodness  and  wisdom  in 
making  this  arrangement  for  the  salvation  of  Africa, 
spiritually  and  temporally,  did  not  forget  that  the 
white  race  would  be  burdened  with  an  evil,  there- 
fore he  designed  that  man  should  be  paid  for  his 
labor  and  trouble,  and  made  slavery  profitable  to  all 
good  and  well-managing  men,  while  he  created  the 
necessity  that  would  force  man  into  the  ownership 
of  slaves. 

I  will  repeat,  in  conclusion,  that  the  two  races 
cannot,  for  the  reasons  herein  given,  ever  live  to- 
gether on  a  social  or  political  equality,  without  the 
destruction  of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  both  races, 
and  a  complete  overthrow  of  this  great  and  glorious 
government.  The  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves 
will  produce  the  same  ruin,  for  as  soon  as  so  many 
millions  of  free  people  (negroes)  are  thrown  upon 
the  country  and  not  placed  on  a  social  and  political 
equality,  the  Union  is  at  once  gone.  To  place  them 
on  an  equality,  would  be  a  perpetual  ruin  to  the 
whole  nation.  To  colonize  them  is  impossible. 
Then  it  is  as  clear  as  a  sunbeam  that  the  only  plan 
is  to  keep  up  the  relation  of  master  and  slave  unmo- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  245 

lested,  and  colonize  the  surplus  in  Liberia,  but  to 
send  none  over  forty  years  old,  and  them  of  the  best 
and  most  intelligent  class.  All  the  free  negroes 
under  forty  and  over  eighteen  years  old  should  be 
colonized  there,  for  they  are  no  manner  of  use  here, 
but  stand  in  the  way  of  a  free  republican  govern- 
ment and  Union.  There  should  be  no  negroes  in 
this  country,  but  those  who  are  slaves.  I  have  tried 
to  come  to  other  conclusions,  but  circumstances 
herein  alluded  to  have  forced  me  into  these  opinions 
against  my  desire,  knowing  such  opinions  would  be 
exceedingly  unpopular  with  nearly  all  my  best 
friends,  and  would  not  raise  me  up  any  with  the  few 
who  may  not  denounce  me  as  a  cruel  man,  I  desiring 
to  have  the  confidence  of  all  who  know  me  or  may 
hear  of  me.  But  I  cannot  after  a  complete  and 
thorough  unbiased  investigation  of  the  subject,  both 
civil  and  moral  with  all  its  concomitant  circumstan- 
ces, take  a  different  course.  I  felt  that  I  could  better 
bear  the  loss  and  wrath  of  my  friends  and  others, 
than  I  could  a  conscientious  sense  of  having  taken 
a  wrong  or  false  ground.  Policy  suggested  a  different 
course  on  this  subject,  and  the  temptation  was  so 
great  that  in  the  beginning  of  this  work  I  wrote 
several  pages,  in  which  I  aimed  to  trim  between  the 
two  extremes  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery ;  but 
on  an  examination  of  the  Bible,  authorities  of  the 
question,  and  reason  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and 
the  opinions  of  the  most  eminent  divines  who  have 
ever  written  on  the  Scriptural  laws  of  slavery,  espe- 
cially those  who  wrote  before  the  strife  had  risen  on 
the  subject  in  this  country,  and  the  more  .modern 
21* 


246  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

writers  who  were  so  prejudiced  against  the  traffic  in 
human  beings  that  they  condemned  it  in  strong  terms, 
I  became  so  powerfully  convinced  that  slavery  was 
divinely  authorized  that  I  stopped  short  and  threw 
away,  perhaps,  twenty  pages  of  manuscript,  in 
which  I  had  attempted  to  show  that  slavery  in  the 
abstract  would  be  a  moral  evil.  Having  then  fully 
made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  rather  have  a  sense 
of  being  right  than  to  be  popular,  consequently  I 
have  written  this  book  conscientiously,  believing  I 
have  taken  the  only  true,  safe,  and  righteous  ground 
on  all  subjects  herein  noticed.  It  being  my  faith, 
allow  that  I  am  honest,  and  aim  at  right,  if  you  con- 
demn the  faith  as  heterodox ;  for  I  do  believe  the 
negro  race  heterogeneous  to  white  people. 


CHAPTEE   Y. 

Who  are  Union  Men  ? 

THE  larger  part  of  this  chapter  was  written  for 
the  Press  after  the  war  commenced,  but  was  refused 
admission.  I  have  since  added  four  or  five  pages  of 
ne\v  matter. 

I,  as  a  Constitutional  Union  man,  who  love  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union  more  than  anything  else 
under  heaven,  desire  to  know  who  are  the  Union 
men,  and  who  the  anti-Union  men  per  se.  I  under- 
stand that  a  real  Union  man  must  be  a  real  lover  of 
the  Constitution,  or  if  he  professes  to  be  a  Union 
man  and  declares  hostility  to  the  Constitution,  that 
he  is  either  a  gross  hypocrite  or  a  fool.  If  I  have 
misunderstood  the  meaning  of  a  true  Union  man,  I 
should  like  to  be  set  straight  by  some  "  lexicogra- 
pher," for  no  man  hates  the  wrong  and  loves  the 
right  more  than  I,  especially  in  matters  of  such  vast 
importance  as  the  above.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
principles  of  Union  and  disunion  are  so  plain  that 
a  child  four  years  old  can  comprehend  them.  Then, 
how  can  a  man  be  a  real  genuine  Union  man,  and 
hate  the  Constitution — the  only  chain  of  the  Union 
that  holds  it  together  ?  He  must  either  hate  both  or 
love  both,  for  every  man  well  knows  that  one  cannot 

(247  ) 


248  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

exist  without  the  other ;  therefore,  the  inferences  are, 
that  if  he  hates  one  he  must  hate  both,  or,  if  he 
loves  one  he  loves  both.  How  is  this  question  to  be 
solved  ?  I  will  undertake  to  do  it  as  briefly  as  pos- 
sible, and,  if  I  mistake,  please  correct  me,  for  there 
is  nothing  affecting  the  hopes  and  fears  of  this  coun- 
try at  present  more  than  this.  I  look  upon  a  dis- 
unionist  per  se,  as  the  most  abominable  monster  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  I  can  think  of  nothing  under 
the  heavens  so  hateful  in  the  eyes  of  the  Almighty, 
and  in  the  hearts  of  all  good  men.  They  are  the 
very  excrescence  of  the  bottomless  pit. 

I  meet  with  men  every  day  who  cry  loudly  for 
the  Union,  and  urge  the  prosecution  of  the  war  be- 
yond possibility;  and  denounce  the  administration, 
Gen.  Scott,  and  Gen.  McClellan,  for  not  having 
pushed  the  war  on  before  this,  to  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  the  whole  South,  with  their  entire  interest, 
without  the  slightest  respect  to  the  helpless  women 
and  children.  They  seem  to  be  so  aggrieved  and 
mortified  at  the  Southern  people  for  attempting  to 
destroy  this  great  and  glorious  Union,  that  many  of 
them  say  that  the  whole  white  population  of  the 
seceding  States  must  be  exterminated  for  the  crime 
they  have  committed  in  the  attempt  to  withdraw  from 
the  Union.  They  most  bitterly  denounce  every  man 
as  a  traitor  who  speaks  of  trying  to  save  the  Union 
without  the  destruction  of  human  life.  Yet  they  say 
they  never  want  to  see  the  Union  restored  with  peace  and 
harmony,  while  there  is  a  slave  on  American  soil.  No! 
rather  than  have  one  negro  in  slavery  in  the  United 
States,  they  would  see  the  Union  split  into  fragments, 


AFRICAN'  SLAVERY.  249 

and  a  monarchical  government  established  with  the 
most  extreme  despotism  ever  known.  Or  rather  than 
yield  up  one  single  line  of  the  Chicago  Platform,  or 
to  allow  one  single  slave  to  go  into  the  territories  of 
the  United  States  under  protection  of  law.  or  one 
sent  back  to  his  master  who  had  made  his  escape 
into  the  free  States,  "  let  the  Constitution  slide,"  let 
the  Union  be  broken  up,  let  anarchy  reign  from 
Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  This  class  of  men,  and  women  too,  are  very 
large  in  this  city  of  Brotherly  Love,  and  they  allow 
no  man  to  speak  of  peace  through  the  medium  of 
olive-branches.  If  he  dare  do  it,  they  denounce  him 
as  a  secessionist,  and  tell  him  he  ought  to  be  hung 
upon  the  lamp-post  by  the  neck,  or  locked  up  in  a 
prison  cell  and  kept  there  until  he  rots.  One  of  these 
kind  of  Union  men,  a  large  merchant  in  this  city, 
said  he  had  two  sons  in  the  battle  field,  and  if  he 
had  forty,  he  would  send  them  all  to  save  this  glori- 
ous Union  from  destruction,  and  if  one  refused  to  go 
he  would  disown  him.  Yet  this  great  patriot  de- 
nounces the  Constitution  as  a  compromise  with  the 
devil  and  a  league  with  hell.  There  are  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  these  great  patriotic  Union  men, 
who  would  rather  anything  should  take  place,  no 
matter  how  devilish,  than  there  should  be  one  single 
negro  slave  in  the  United  States. 

Now,  I  cannot  conceive  of  but  one  way  to  solve 
this  enigma,  and  that  is  as  follows :  In  the  first  place 
they  are  "wolves  in  sheep's  clothing,"  as  set  forth  in 
the  Bible.  Secondly,  they  are  servants  of  old  Apol- 
lyon,  and  hate  Christianity,  and  all  that  is  good  in 


250  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

this  world ;  in  short,  they  are  an  infidel  crew,  sent 
forth  by  the  father  of  lies  and  the  hater  of  God  and 
all  good  government,  to  destroy  this  model  govern- 
ment, simply  because  it  was  marked  out  by  the  finger 
of  Jehovah,  and  destined  to  remodel  the  whole  world, 
and  usher  in  the  millenium  spoken  of  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  would  not  be  hard  to  prove  that  the  great 
love  and  sympathy  they  profess  to  feel  for  the  poor 
slave  is  a  false  pretext,  feigned  for  the  purpose  of 
breaking  up  the  Union  between  tne  North  and  South, 
and  not  that  they  care  anything  about  the  poor  Afri- 
cans in  slavery,  or  have  the  slightest  conscientious 
scruples  on  the  subject  of  slavery  or  slaveholding. 
But  they  hate  pure  Christianity  more  than  they  love 
the  Constitution,  therefore  their  opposition  to  South- 
ern slavery.  Why  ?  Because  they  know  there  is  no 
other  sectional  question  of  interest  in  the  United 
States,  and  they  know  that  to  be  a  vital  and  exciting 
one  to  the  Southern  people.  If  there  were  no  slaves 
they  would  seize  upon  something  else  the  most  ex- 
citing in  the  country.  If  these  people  have  so  much 
"sympathy  for  the  poor  negro,  how  is  it  they  have 
none  for  any  other  species  of  mankind?  Every 
man  or  woman  who  has  any  knowledge  of  facts  in 
the  case,  knows  the  slaves  to  be  well  off,  and  a  great 
.deal  better  off  than  one-half  of  the  white  population 
of  the  free  States.  They  have  few  or  no  troubles, 
and  are  the  happiest  people  on  earth ;  they  have  no 
concern  beyond  the  present  moment.  Then  why  is 
it  there  is  so  much  concern  felt  for  the  poor  slaves, 
while  the  free  people  of  color  are  in  so  much  worse 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  251 

condition  in  every  shape  and  form,  and  no  sympathy 
felt  or  expressed  for  them  whatever  ? 

Where  are  the  thousands  of  Indians  who  occupied 
the  very  ground  on  which  this  great  city  is  built  ? 
They  pre-occupied  this  soil,  and  in  that  way  were  the 
rightful  owners  of  every  foot  of  earth  now  occupied 
in  the  United  States  by  the  white  man.  But  where 
are  they  to-day  ?  Have  they  not  been  driven  from 
their  rights  and  rightful  homes,  to  the  western  wilds 
and  Rocky  Mountains,  and  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  them  murdered  and  slaughtered  in  their  own 
homes,  simply  because  they  contended  for  their  birth- 
right? Millions  of  them  have  been  compelled  to 
perish  with  cold  and  hunger,  under  the  snow-flakes  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  after  having  been  driven  from 
their  just  rights  and  happy  homes.  Who  will  pre- 
tend to  say  this  is  not  real  robbery,  theft,  and  mur- 
der ?  But  who  has  condemned  all  this  wickedness  ? 
Where  are  the  long  aping  and  pitiful  faces  that 
have  been  forced  or  feigned,  or  those  that  originated 
from  pure  sympathy,  to  be  found  among  all  the 
sympathizers  in  this  country  with  the  poor  slaves, 
who  have  every  right  conceded  to  them  they  ever 
had  or  now  have?  They  are  well  clad  and  fed, 
cared  for  and  respected,  and  enjoy  all  the  fruits  of 
their  labor,  even  more  than  Stephen  Girard  ever 
did.  They  have  good  homes,  the  doctor  when  sick, 
and  are  well  nursed.  There  is  not  one  to  be  found 
in  the  United  States,  who  owes  one  cent,  and  all 
who  do  right  are  as  happy  as  men  can  be  in  this 
world  of  sin.  Yet  this  great  and  glorious  Union 
which  has  produced  such  happiness  and  peace  to 


252  AFKICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  Africans,  is  to  be  broken  up,  and  the  whole 
white  population  reduced  to  slavery,  under  some 
despotic  monarch  or  thrown  into  a  state  of  anarchy, 
rather  than  one  negro  should  be  left  in  slavery  in 
the  United  States,  the  only  condition  of  peace  and 
safety  they  ever  will  find  in  this  world. 

Now  tell  me  hoV  is  this,  that  we  must  give  up  all 
that  is  dear  to  us  in  this  world,  and  not  do  the  slaves 
any  good,  but  reduce  them  to  a  far  worse  condition 
than  their  present  one,  and  n*t  even  a  complaint 
made  against  the  treatment  to  the  poor  Indians,  who 
have  been  robbed  of  all  their  rights,  and  slain  like 
blackbirds,  and  driven  back  to  the  very  ends  of  the 
earth,  and  there  left  to  perish !  For  all  this,  not  one 
association  formed,  or  a  meeting  called,  or  a  tear 
dropped,  nor  no  long  sympathetic  aping  faces  made 
by  those  who  would  give  up  all  that  is  good,  rather 
than  there  should  be  one  negro  left  in  slavery  in 
this  great  country.  I  will  tell  you  how  it  is. 
The  Indian  question  cannot  be  made  a  sectional 
one.  The  whole  country  is  of  the  same  opinion, 
and  it  would  produce  no  opposition  between  the 
North  and  South,  nor  the  East  and  West.  It  would 
rather  tend  to  strengthen  the  Union,  therefore  it 
would  not  answer  the  purpose.  But  the  slave  ques- 
tion is  a  sectional  one,  it  strikes  at  the  very  vitals  of 
the  benefits  of  one-half  of  the  soil  of  this  country, 
the  dearest  rights  of  the  people  thereof,  and  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  aims  a  death 
blow  at  all  the  civil,  social,  and  domestic  institutions 
of  all  the  States.  And  all  this  is  aimed  at  the  very 
vitals  of  this  great  Union.  It  is  done  because  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  253 

Union  encourages  Christianity  through  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  If  I  am  wrong  I  hope  some  one  will  set 
me  right.  Ask  those  men  what  they  propose  to  do 
with  five  millions  of  free  negroes  suddenly  turned 
loose  on  the  country !  Some  answer  that  they  will 
leave  that  for  an  after  consideration ;  others  say  that 
they  have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  that  their  business 
is  to  free  them ;  and  some  say  they  may  go  to  the 
devil  for  all  they  care  about  them  ;  but  others  say 
they  must  be  placed  on  an  equality,  that  our  Creator 
had  made  us  all  equal,  therefore  we  are  compelled 
to  take  them  into  a  political,  social,  and  domestic 
equality.  Mr.  G.,  who  is  rather  a  fine-looking  man, 
said  to  me  the  other  day,  in  the  presence  of  a  num- 
ber of  witnesses,  that  he-  was  no  respecter  of  persons 
on  account  of  their  color,  that  he  would  just  as  soon 
take  the  arm  of  a  black  person,  or  have  them  take 
his  (male  or  female  of  course}  and  walk  through  the 
city,  or  promenade  the  •social  circle,  as  he  would  a, 
white  person.  Mr.  G.  is  well-known  in  this  city. 
A  large  majority  of  the  above  named  Union  men 
are  of  this  class,  according  to  their  declarations. 

Now,  I  don't  believe  one  word  of  such  asseverations, 
nor  do  I  believe  any  man  of  common  sense  or  good 
judgment  does ;  for  such  a  thing  is  contrary  to 
human  nature  and  common  sense.  All  such  asseve- 
rations are  for  effect,  and  all  such  persons  would  be 
the  first  to  rebel  against  any  government  that  would 
attempt  to  enforce  it,  even  if  it  was  the  government 
of  Jehovah  himself,  if  it  was  made  morally  and  civilly 
right  to  do  so.  All  such  declarations  are  without 
22 


254  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  slightest  foundation  in  honest  truth,  and  have 
an  ulterior  object  in  view,  and  that  is  the  total  de- 
struction of  this  great  and  glorious  Union.  They 
are  the  very  men  who  have  brought  us  to  this  awful 
crisis,  and  now  denounce  every  man  as  a  secessionist 
who  dares  to  speak  of  saving  the  Union,  and  restor- 
ing peace,  tranquillity,  and  harmony,  in  any  other 
way  than  the  one  that  will  eternally  destroy  it,  just 
as  sure  as  we  have  had  peace  and  prosperity  through 
and  by  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  Yea!  as 
sure  as  there  is  a  heaven  above  and  an  earth  beneath, 
our  peace  and  harmony  is  gone,  eternally  gone,  if 
the  above  class  of  Union  men  are  allowed  to  lead  or 
are  listened  to.  They  know  well  that  a  free  republi- 
can Union  cannot  exist  with  five  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants interspersed  among  them  totally  incapable  of 
self-government  or  of  being  made  so.  And  even  if 
they  were,  human  nature  is  such  that  they  could 
not  be  admitted  on  an  equality,  for  which  they  would 
sue  in  less  than  five  years.  Then  a  scene  would 
transpire  such  as  the  sun  has  never  shone  upon.  Our 
soil  would  be  drenched  with  human  gore  from  one 
end  to  the  other ;  and  our  Union  that  has  been  the 
harbinger  of  peace,  love,  tranquillity,  and  har- 
mony would  suddenly  be  converted  into  a  reign  of 
anarchy,  which  would  exist  as  long  as  there  was  a 
colored  person  on  American  soil,  or  a  terrible  des- 
potism established  by  some  tyrant  of  a  Nero,  who 
would  seize  the  reins  of  government,  mount  the 
throne,  and  reduce  us  all  to  slavery,  or  to  an  equality 
without  the  slightest  respect  to  color,  and  that  would 
be  the  end  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  I  look 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  255 

upon  this  class  of  fanatics  as  being  just  such  as  the 
devil  would  have  them  to  be. 

I- will  say,  in  conclusion,  that,  as  long  as  the  slaves 
are  let  alone,  in  the  possession  of  their  masters,  the 
free  people  of  color  will  be  safe  in  this  country,  and 
their  rights  cared  for,  but  no  longer.  The  four  and 
a  half  millions  of  slaves  in  the  United  States  are  the 
only  safeguards  the  free  black  man  has,  and  none 
would  suffer  a  greater  overthrow  by  the  emancipa- 
tion of  all  the  slaves,  or  destruction  of  the  Union, 
than  they.  In  either  case,  they  will  be  the  greater 
losers,  unless  a  Nero  should  seize  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment at  the  same  time,  with  five  hundred  thousand 
troops  under  his  control.  This  would  end  all  con- 
troversy, and  forever  solve  the  question  of  the 
capability  of  man  for  self-government. 

The  course  those  Union  men  are  pursuing,  is  the 
most  cruel  to  the  colored  race  in  this  country  that 
could  be  devised.  How  men  can  be  so  cruel  and 
hard-hearted  towards  so  large  a  class  of  innocent, 
unprotected,  and,  to  this  day,  a  useful  people,  I  am 
unable  to  decipher,  for  I  tell  you  now,  that  whenever 
they  are  all  emancipated,  you  will  see  cruelties  here- 
tofore unknown  (even  under  Nero).  Human  nature 
is  such,  that  this  trouble  will  come  very  soon  after 
the  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves,  unless  a  military 
despotism  be  established  on  the  heels  of  universal 
emancipation.  For  a  free  republican  union,  where 
every  subject  is  a  king,  cannot  stand  where  one 
sixth  of  the  subjects  are  marked  with  such  obnoxious 
distinctness ;  so  much  so,  that  every  colored  man 
would  almost  give  his  life  to  be  made  a  pure  white 


256  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

man  for  one  month.  I  am  not  willing  to  give  up 
the  Union  for  any  cause.  Union  means  love,  har- 
mony, tranquillity,  and  peace.  Love  is  the  only  bond 
that  will  ever  restore  the  Union.  We  must  love  the 
southern  people,  and  they  must  love  us,  or  there  never 
can  be  a  union  between  the  two  extremes.  I  am 
ready  for  any  plan  that  is  the  most  direct  to  such  a 
glorious  result.  To  get  at  the  best  plan,  every  bitter 
feeling,  with  all  hard  sayings,  all  prejudice,  and  sec- 
tionalism must  be  suspended,  let  us  get  together 
and  discuss  the  best  plan  to  save  the  Union  of  the 
thirty-four  States,  for  I  tell  you,  a  great  many  people 
have  got  to  believe  that  this  war  is  not  to  save  the 
Union,  but  to  emancipate  all  the  slaves,  and  break 
it  up  forever.  This  feeling  has  been  engendered 
altogether  by  the  class  of  Union  men  above  alluded 
to.  These  men  are  traitors,  and  they  tremble  with 
fear  that  peace  will  be  made  with  slavery  in  the 
country.  They  know  the  emancipation  of  all  the 
slaves  would  make  it  necessary  to  change  the  govern- 
ment from  a  free  republican  Union  to  a  military 
despotism ;  for  five  millions  of  people  set  free  among 
us,  totally  incapable  of  self-government,  could  not  be 
ruled  without  it,  for  as  soon  as  they  are  all  freed, 
the  prejudice  of  color  will  rise  to  its  highest  pitch, 
and  could  be  restrained  only  by  military  power. 
These  people  are  the  worst  enemies  of  the  colored 
race,  and  the  union  of  the  States  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  They  have  been  seeking  the  destruction  of 
this  glorious  Union  for  more  than  fifty  years,  and 
now  exult  over  their  prospects.  0 !  "Ye  serpents, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  257 

ye  generation  of  vipers!    how  can  ye  escape  the 
damnation  of  hell  ?" 

I  will  give  another  sample  or  two  of  these  pre- 
tended Unionists.  I  stepped  into  one  of  our  largest 
newspaper  offices  the  other  day,  where  there  were 
three  or  four  gentlemen,  some  of  whom  were  re- 
porters, and  an  assistant  editor.  I  was  asked  by  one 
of  them  what  my  ideas  were  about  the  close  of  the 
war.  I  began  to  tell  them  how  I  believed  it  could 
now  be  settled  without  any  further  destruction  of 
human  life.  This  was  a  few  days  after  the  Fort 
Donaldson  victory  was  reported.  I  had  not  pro- 
ceeded far,  before  I  was  asked  if  I  supposed  peace 
could  be  restored  with  slavery  in  the  country.  I 
answered  in  the  affirmative.  I  was  laughed  at  as  a 
strange  man.  They  then  denounced  slavery  as  the 
greatest  crime  known  to  God  or  man.  I  told  them  I 
could  not  see  how  they  could  make  out  such  a  case, 
where  neither  the  moral  nor  civil  law  forbids  its  ex- 
istence— that  it  was  constitutional  according  to  the 
declarations  of  both,  and  the  moral  constitution  and 
law  sustained  it  in  stronger  terms  than  did  the  civil. 
Two  of  those  gentlemen  simultaneously  denounced 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  books  of  falsehoods 
and  lies,  and  were  only  calculated  to  ruin  men  and 
women  by  debauchery  and  degradation.  I  saw 
there  was  no  use  to  quote  Scripture,  for  it  was  like 
casting  pearl  before  swine.  I  then  referred  them  to 
the  fact  that  the  colored  races  could  not  be  so  civil- 
ized as  to  be  capable  of  self-government — that  there 
was  not  the  slightest  appearance  of  any  improvement 
on  the  globe  made  by  them,  except  as  slaves  under 


258  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  direction  of  white  men.  They  referred  me  to 
the  Liberian  colony  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  I  told 
them  that  that  was  yet  an  experiment,  which  I  hoped 
would  succeed,  that  I  was  a  strong  and  unyielding 
friend  of  the  enterprise,  but  there  are  circumstances 
already  apparent  that  have  produced  doubts  in  the 
minds  of  many  friends  of  the  experiment.  It  is  cer- 
tain there  is  room  to  fear  that  idleness  will  sooner  or 
later  prevail,  and,  if  it  should,  it  was  to  be  feared 
that  barbarism  would  follow,  which  can  be  prevented 
only  by  a  monarchical  form  of  government.  They 
remarked  that  that  was  not  so;  that  the  negroes 
were  just  as  capable  of  self-government  as  white 
men,  and  had  just  as  good  a  right  to  govern  in  this 
country.  I  asked  them  how  it  was  that  the  Indians 
of  the  United  States  had  not  been  civilized — that 
they  were  here  when  we  came,  but  removed  from 
civilization  as  chaff  before  the  wind.  They  remarked 
that  it  was  because  the  Indians  had  too  much  good 
sense  even  to  yield  to  such  a  humbug  as  civilization 
— that  it  was  opposed  to  life  and  liberty,  and  was 
only  calculated  to  make  men  work  twelve  hours  in 
the  day,  and  consequently  made  slaves  of  us  all.  I 
told  them  I  could  not  talk  with  them  any  longer  on 
that  subject,  as  they  had  rejected  the  foundations  of 
all  my  arguments  for  the  Union,  and  my  hopes  for 
this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come.  They  said  they 
hoped  the  war  would  not  cease  as  long  as  there  was 
a  slave  in  the  United  States,  and,  if  nothing  else 
would  free  them,  let  the  entire  white  population  of 
the  slave  States  be  exterminated,  and  the  soil  given 
up  to  the  slaves,  to  whom  it  righteously  belongs. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  259 

These  men  are  in  very  responsible  situations, ' 
where  they  can  wield  a  powerful  influence  over  the 
minds  of  both  young  and  old.  I  meet  with  so  many 
such  men,  that  my  hopes  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Union  with  tranquillity  and  harmony,  are  sometimes 
very  faint ;  and  when  I  am  denounced  as  a  traitor 
by  such  men,  I  wonder  what  kind  of  government 
we  should  have  if  such  as  they  had  the  entire  con- 
trol !  They  seem  to  think  there  would  be  no  harm 
in  making  white  men  slaves,  provided  they  were 
made  slaves  to  negroes.  One  of  their  sweeping 
arguments  which  they  almost  invariably  use,  is, 
how  would  you  like  to  be  a  slave  ?  I  know  I  would 
not  like  to  be  a  slave,  because  it  would  be  degrad- 
ing to  me.  I  am  one  of  the  individual  rulers  or 
governors  of  this  country,  and  was  intended  by  the 
Supreme  Euler  of  the  world  to  be  a  free  man. 
Neither  I  nor  my  ancestors  were  ever  heathens  or 
slaves ;  neither  were  they  black,  nor  could  not  be 
made  so,  because  it  was  not  the  will  of  God.  The 
negroes  are  greatly  elevated  by  slavery.  They  are 
black,  and  wholly  inferior.  Their  ancestors  were 
black  heathens  and  barbarians.  They  kill  and  eat 
each  other  with  as  much  relish,  as  we  kill  and  eat 
turkeys.  Some  of  the  Fejee  Islanders  never  have  a 
feast  without  a  roasted  negro,  and  he  an  acquaint- 
ance or  subject.  Therefore  they  are  greatly  blessed 
and  elevated  by  being  brought  here  and  made  slaves. 
The  slaves  of  the  United  States  are,  on  the  general, 
so  much  better  off  and  happier  than  the  so-called 
free  people  of  color,  and  are  not  degraded  but  ele- 
vated by  slavery.  The  morals  of  the  slaves  are 


260  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

so  incalculably  better  than  that  of  the  free  colored 
people,  that  it  is  surprising  to  any  man  who  has  not 
been  ruled  by  party  cliques,  or  run  wild  by  an  ex- 
citing hobby,  to  meet  such  men.  But  how  would 
you  like  to  be  a  slave  ?  say  they.  I  say  I  would  not 
like  to  be  a  slave,  especially  to  my  colored  brethren. 

I  will  ask  those  very  refined  soft  fingered  ladies 
and  gentlemen  how  they  would  like  to  be  cesspool 
cleaners  ?  Those  of  the  large  cities  know  what  and 
who  I  mean.  How  would  you  like  to  start  with  your 
horses  and  carts,  buckets  and  hoes,  at  10  o'clock  at 
night  (instead  of  retiring  to  your  beautiful  downy 
couch,  surrounded  with  the  finest  drapery,  with  a 
sweet  wife  and  child),  and  drudge  through  the  streets, 
and  enter  some  gentleman's  back  yard,  and  descend 
the  cesspool  to  clean  it  out,  and  after  toiling  nearly 
all  night  in  that  filth,  return  to  your  mansion  and  to 
your  bed  ?  Now  I  ask  again,  how  would  you  like 
to  be  a  cesspool  cleaner  ?  I  know  you  will  answer 
in  the  negative,  and  so  will  your  wife  and  family. 
Is  that  any  proof  that  that  business  is  morally 
wrong,  and  should  not  be  followed  by  any  one  else, 
simply  because  you  would  not  like  to  do  it  ?  Accord- 
ing to  your  own  arguments,  all  such  callings  should 
be  abolished  at  once,  it  being  morally  wrong  and 
cruel,  simply  because  you  would  not  like  the  occu- 
pation yourself. 

Again :  How  would  you  like  to  turn  out  daily 
with  a  gang  of  hardy,  sun-burned,  German  laborers, 
with  your  paving  pick  and  pounder,  and  pave  streets, 
lay  water  pipes  for  your  living,  and  your  wife  to  go 
out  daily  and  wash,  with  her  tender  hands  ?  I  know 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

you  would  not  like  it  any  more  than  I  would  like 
to  be  a  slave.  Now  is  it  morally  wrong  and  bar- 
barous to  employ  those  German  laborers  to  do  that 
kind  of  work,  simply  because  you  would  not  like  to 
do  it  yourself?  Must  that  kind  of  work  be  abol- 
ished, and  our  streets  left  knee-deep  in  mud  ?  Is  it 
morally  wrong  to  wash  clothes,  because  your  wife 
would  not  like  to  retire  to  the  back  yard  of  some 
lady's  house  to  wash  ?  Must  washing  be  abolished 
because  she  would  not  like  the  business,  and  you 
yourself  deeply  humiliated  by  the  operation  ?  These 
arguments  can  be  used  against  any  of  the  above 
occupations  with  just  as  much  force  and  good  sense, 
as  yours  can  be  against  slavery. 

I  will  say  again  that  the  only  temporal  salvation 
on  any  spot  of  this  verdant  earth  for  the  African 
race,  is  in  being  slaves  to  white  men,  unless  it  should 
turn  out  to  be  otherwise  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
which  I  hope  and  pray  may  prove  successful.  The 
Supreme  Being  has  so  ordained  it,  and  every  attempt 
by  us  to  make  it  otherwise,  will  prove  a  terribfe 
curse  to  both  races.  Every  national  affliction  we 
have  had,  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
with  one  exception,  has  been  produced  either  direct- 
ly or  indirectly  by  an  inconsiderate  opposition  to 
negro  slavery.  The  war  with  Mexico  was  the  con- 
sequence of  a  constant  interference  with  Southern 
State  rights  because  of  slavery,  by  the  people  and 
legislators  of  the  free  States.  I  believe  just  as  much 
as  I  believe  I  am  now  writing,  that  God  so  directed 
the  convention  of  1787  in  its  deliberations  in  framing 
our  national  Constitution,  to  grant  the  independent 


262  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

state  rights,  that  slavery  might  not  be  disturbed  or 
interfered  with  by  the  abolitionists  of  the  free  States. 
If  slavery  was  a  cruel  barbarism,  and  a  sin  against 
God,  it  would  have  but  few  opponents  among  such 
as  are  now  abolitionists.  I  will  ask  those  who  deny 
the  truth  of  this  assertion  how  it  is  that  no  sym- 
pathy has  been  expressed  for  the  poor  Indians,  who 
were  the  aborigines  in  all  these  States  ?  who  have 
been  murdered  and  slaughtered  by  thousands  and 
driven  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  by  us,  and  there 
left  to  starve  under  the  snow-flakes  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  .  We  have  robbed  them  of  their  moral 
and  just  rights,  and  driven  them  from  their  homes. 
As  inhuman  as  this  seems  to  be,  no  abolitionist  has 
ever  mourned  over  the  cruelties  to  this  most  inter- 
esting race.  Why  is  it  so  ?  Because  the  movement 
would  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  could  not 
be  made  a  sectional  issue,  therefore  would  produce 
no  quarrel  between  the  two  extremes  of  our  com- 
mon country ;  and  our  national  glory  and  God-like 
itnion  would  be  in  no  danger  of  an  eternal  over- 
throw by  such  a  righteous  movement  and  sympathy. 
This  war  with  all  its  horrors  and  concomitant  cir- 
cumstances, is  the  direct  product  of  the  anti-slavery 
party.  I  mean  that  portion  of  them  who  have  been 
unceasingly  interfering  with  Southern  rights,  and 
denouncing  the  slaveholders  as  devils  incarnate,  and 
charging  them  with  the  most  hideous  crimes  known 
to  criminal  law.  Those  charges  were  not  against  a 
slave  owner  who  might  chance  to  be  a  bad  man,  but 
they  were  and.  are  made  against  all  slaveholders  indis- 
criminately, and  every  one  of  them  charged  with  the 


.        AFK1CAN  SLAVERY.  263 

highest  crimes  known  in  the  whole  world,  such  as 
murder  and  robbery,  and  all  their  sons  with  constant 
cohabitation  with  their  negro  female  slaves  to  produce 
children  for  the  market.  I  say  it  is  more  wonderful  to 
me  that  this  most  ungodly  and  wicked  rebellion  did 
not  break  out  many  years  sooner  than  it  is  it  has  now 
broken  out.  When  we  think  of  all  these  things,  in 
connection  with  the  many  schemes  of  interference  with 
Southern  rights  to  this  species  of  property  by  the  free 
States,  and  the  constant  denunciations  of  Southern 
slaveholders  from  a  thousand  pulpits  on  each  succes- 
sive Sabbath  day,  is  it  not  wonderful  to  all  who 
have  given  human  nature  and  the  jealousy  of  our 
lawful  rights  a  proper  thought?  I  will  appeal  to 
every  honest,  thoughtful,  unprejudiced  man  for  an 
answer  to  this  question.  Is  it  not  wonderful  that 
this  rebellion,  as  wicked  and  ungodly  as  it  is,  did 
not  come  sooner  ?  Eemember  that  this  was  a  free- 
will, volunteer  Constitutional  Union,  made  up  by 
free-will  concessions,  "for  a  more  perfect  Union," 
and  not  for  one  section  of  the  country  to  hold  the 
other  as  with  a  halter ;  to  slander,  insult,  and  perse- 
cute them  with  the  foulest  defamations  known  to 
the  vicious. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  constant  cohabitations  take 
place  in  the  South  as  alluded  to  above,  how  is  it 
that  there  are  any  real  negroes  to  be  found  in  the 
slave  States  by  this  time,  for  they  have  been  thus 
charged  for  more  than  two  hundred  years ;  and  if 
the  white  men  of  the  free  States  are  so  much  purer 
in  that  way  than  those  of  the  slave  States,  how  is  it 
that  the  proportion  of  mulattoes  in  the  free  States 


264  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

are  so  much  larger  than  in  the  slave  States  ?  Now, 
don't  lay  this  to  the  white  females  of  the  North,  for 
that  would  be  a  still  greater  slander,  and  would  not 
abate  the  disgrace,  but  rather  increase  it.  These 
things  have  been  stated  by  designing  men  and  wo- 
men, with  such  boldness  and  assurance,  that  many 
of  our  very  best  people  in  the  free  States  have  been 
overcome  and  made  to  believe  it,  and  some  of  them 
will  flare  up  if  you  tell  them  it  is  false.  I  want  all 
such  to  read  over  what  I  have  written  on  this  point 
of  the  subject,  with  particular  care,  and  examine  the 
statistics  of  each  ten  years,  and  see  for  yourselves 
whether  the  slave  States  are  any  worse  than  the  free, 
on  the  mulatto  question. 

I  will  again  say,  if  the  Southern  people  are  as  bad 
as  the  abolitionists  would  have  them,  I  don't  want  to 
be  in  the  Union  with  them.  I  am  no  little  surprised 
to  find  so  many  of  those  who  believe  all  such  foul 
slanders,  so  anxious  to  save  and  prolong  a  Union 
with  them.  I  think,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  that  it 
shows  a  degraded  and  demoralized  taste,  just  as  foul 
as  that  with  which  they  charge  the  slaveholders. 
The  very  fact  of  our  sympathies  being  so  often 
appealed  to  by  abolitionists,  in  asking  how  we 
would  like  to  be  slaves,  is  a  proof  positive  that  they 
are  governed  entirely  by  their  sympathies  and  feel- 
ings, if  anything  but  wickedness,  and  not  by  convic- 
tion or  judgment.  What  sort  of  a  country  should 
we  have  had  by  this  time,  if  every  person  was  to 
move  and  rule  according  to  their  sympathies.  Sup- 
pose Gen.  Washington  had  yielded  to  his  sympathies 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  should 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  265 

we  ever  have  been  an  independent  nation  ?  Suppose 
all  men  and  women  should  govern  their  children  by 
their  sympathies  ;  what  sort  of  children  would  they 
have  ?  Suppose  a  surgeon  should  act  upon  the  dic- 
tation of  his  sympathies,  would  he  ever  do  any  good 
to  himself,  or  any  unfortunate  afflicted  person  ?  Feel- 
ings or  sympathies  are  the  most  dangerous  guides 
for  church  or  state  to  follow,  and  if  followed  without 
the  guide  of  good  judgment,  they  will  break  up 
every  church  and  government  in  the  civilized  world. 
I  know  all  such  charges  to  be  mainly  false,  there- 
fore I  am  willing  to  be  in  the  Union  with  the  South- 
ern States.  But  can  this  Union  be  restored  by  con- 
stantly proclaiming  such  foul  slanders  against  those 
we  have  got  to  reconcile  before  any  Union  can  be 
formed  with  them  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  look 
upon  and  speak  of  them  as  our  unfortunate  misguided 
brethren,  who  have  misunderstood  the  majority  of 
the  North,  in  the  late  Presidential  election  ?  Whose 
misunderstanding  was  produced  by  the  wholesale 
slanders  herein  alluded  to,  and  by  their  Constitutional 
and  lawful  rights  having  been  constantly  interfered 
with  almost  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  to 
the  present  day,  by  individuals,  associations,  and 
statute  laws  of  the  free  States.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, have  they  not  ground  for  great  complaint  ? 
And  if  they  have  such  ground,  is  it  not  our  duty, 
as  a  liberal,  benevolent,  Christian  people,  to  remove 
every  such  ground  from  our  escutcheon  ?  Is  it  not 
right  for  him  who  gives  the  first  insult,  to  make  the 
first  concession  ? 
23 


266  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

You  say  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States  has  always  allowed  and  protected  them  in 
their  Constitutional  rights.  I  say  they  have  not. 
For  Congress  has  ever  refused  to  protect  their  rights 
to  all  property  in  all  the  territories  of  the  United 
States.  The  Kepublican  party  adopted  a  platform 
in  1856,  repudiating  protection  to  their  property  in 
the  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  renewed  it 
again  at  Chicago  in  1860,  (and  in  both  instances 
chose  both  of  their  candidates  for  the  Presidency 
from  the  free  States,)  and  this  directly  in  the  teeth  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  1854.  Now,  I  ask 
every  candid  man,  if  this  was  not  sufficient  to  im- 
press the  mind  of  the  whole  South  that  we  intended 
to  crush  them  with  all  their  peculiar  institutions. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever  heard  the  slightest 
sympathy  expressed  by  any  leading  republican  for 
the  sufferings  of  our  unfortunate  southern  brethren. 
I  hear  them  bitterly  cursed  almost  daily ;  by  some,  for 
fleeing  from  their  homes  with  their  wives  and  children 
on  the  approach  of  our  troops,  while  others  seem  to  ex- 
ult at  every  such  report,  and  laugh  over  it  as  though 
"  nobody  ,was  hurt,  and  no  harm  had  been  done." 
Among  these  are  some  professing  Christian  ministers 
and  their  disciples,  whose  profession  binds  them  to 
mercy's  side  of  every  question.  The  examples  set 
in  the  Scriptures,  from  Genesis  to  Eevelations,  are 
altogether  on  the  side  of  mercy,  especially  those  of 
our  Saviour.  We  are  there  informed  that  we  must 
not  only  forgive  seven  times,  but  seventy  times 
seven.  The  South  had  borne  with  our  encroaching 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  267 

upon  their  rights  for  many  years,  which  caused  the 
rebellion. 

If  human  nature  had  ever  been  forced  to  love,  or 
an  example  could  be  found  on  the  pages  of  Holy 
Writ  for  forcing  people  to  love  each  other,  I  should 
have  some  hope  that  this  war  would  ultimately  re- 
store the  Union.  But  as  there  has  been  no  success- 
ful precedent  recorded  on  the  pages  of  sacred  or 
profane  history,  I  am  left  without  the  slightest  hope 
of  any  forced  restoration  of  harmony  and  peace 
between  the  two  extremes  of  our  beloved  country. 
This  being  the  case,  would  it  not  be  better  to  propose 
an  amnesty  with  our  southern  brethren  ?  I  would 
pardon  the  whole  South,  if  that  would  restore  peace, 
harmony,  and  obedience  to  the  laws  throughout  the 
whole  country.  I  believe  Grod  would  bless  the  effort, 
and  make  it  successful.  We  may  conquer  the  South, 
but  that  will  not  restore  the  Union,  without  which 
there  never  can  be  peace  and  harmony  in  this  great 
nation.  There  is  only  one  way  to  restore  the  Union, 
and  that  must  be  through  love  as  proposed  by  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  said,  "Bless 
them  that  curse  you."  The  only  bond  of  this  Union 
was  love  for  each  other  ;  therefore  sectionalism  was 
started  to  destroy  it,  that  being  the  only  means  by 
which  it  could  be  effectually  done.  The  war  will 
produce  horror  upon  horror,  and  hatred  upon  hatred, 
and  the  longer  it  is  prosecuted,  the  further  we  shall 
be  from  harmony  and  peace.  I  would  submit  to  any 
depth  of  humiliation  for  the  sake  of  handing  a  per- 
fect Union  down  to  future  generations.  I  know  that 
if  it  is  not  soon  settled,  it  never  can  be,  and  we  shall 


208  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

go  down  to  our  graves,  leaving  it  a  terrible  despotism" 
or  in  a  state  of  universal  anarchy.  May  God  in  his 
mercy  save  us  from  the  interminable  ruin  that  seems 
to  be  before  us,  all  of  which  is  the  legitimate  result 
of  opposition  to  slavery,  which  was  only  a  pretext 
of  the  leaders  to  destroy  the  Union.  "When  the 
taxes  come,  we  shall  be  made  to  sweat  and  atone  for 
our  hypocrisy. 

The  worst  troubles  are  yet  to  be  realized.  If  the 
slaves  should  all  be  freed,  they  will  become  a  mass  of 
ruined  humanity,  that  will  be  an  intolerable  weight 
around  the  neck  of  society,  which  will  chafe  our  fu- 
ture hopes,  our  national  pride,  and  clog  the  wheels 
of  the  onward  course  of  the  prosperity  of  the  whole 
country.  God  has  given  them  to  us  for  the  mutual 
benefit  of  both  races,  but  the  relation  to  be  master 
and  slave,  as  decreed  about  four  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  years  ago.  Our  only  moral 
right  in  the  matter,  as  a  people  and  nation,  is  to  see 
that  they  are  humanely  treated.  I  know  my  best 
and  most  influential  business  and  social  friends  are 
bitterly  opposed  to  me  in  these  views,  and  some  of 
my  religious  friends  say  they  Avould  be  pleased  to 
see  me  hung  up  by  the  neck.  They  may  crucify 
me,  but  while  I  can  speak  and  write,  I  will  state  my 
clearest  convictions,  and  nothing  else.  In  facts  I 
have,  told  the  truth;  I  may  have  erred  a  little  in- 
some  of  my  inferences,  and  some  of  my  quotations 
from  history  may  be  a  little  misplaced,  as  I  have 
written  mostly  from  memory.  • 

Wherever  professing  Christians  take  up  the  sword 


AFRICAN  SLAVKRY.  2<>9 

to  avenge  their  enemies,  they  sin  against  the  holy 
precepts  of  the  Son  of  God  and  his  holy  apostles. 

"  Therefore  if  thine  enemy  hunger,  feed  him ;  if  he  thirst, 
give  him  drink ;  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap  coals  of  fire  on 
his  head." — Rom.  xii.  20. 

"  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him,  put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his 
place  ;  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with  the 
sword." — Matt.  xxvi.  52. 

The  very  essence  of  the  principles  on  which  this 
war  is  waged  by  professing  Christians,  fully  and  com- 
pletely repudiates  Christianity,  and  all  free  repub- 
lican governments  and  unions.  Our  general  govern- 
ment was  wholly  begotten  and  truly  Christian  in  all 
its  articles  and  clauses,  made  up  by  mutual  conces- 
sions and  compromises,  without  the  temporal  sword. 
I  know  they  came  to  a  dead  halt  while  forming  it,  but 
was  the  sword  drawn  from  its  scabb'ard?  No, 
brethren!  Did  they  quarrel  and  call  each  other 
hard  names,  such  as  thieves,  murderers,  and  robbers  ? 
No ;  they  did  no  such  thing.  How,  then,  did  they 
get  unlocked?  They  unanimously  agreed  to  send 
for  a  celebrated  clergyman  to  come  into  their  midst 
with  his  Bible,  read  a  chapter,  and  pray  for  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  rest  down  upon  them.  -The  result 
was,  the  dam  gave  way,  union  of  sentiment  was  at 
once  restored,  and  the  Constitution  speedily  agreed 
upon. 

This  war,  and  every  particle  of  the  malice -and 
hatred  between  the  North  and  South,  has  grown  out 
of  resisting  the  constitutional  and  lawful  rights  of  the 
slave  States  of  the  Union.  All  those  who  instituted 
the  sectional  antipathies  by  resisting  those  rights,  and 
23* 


270  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

those  who  have  carried  it  on  to  present  results,  are 
guilty  of  murder  in  every  life  that  has  been  lost ;  and 
all  those  who  persist  in  urging  the  war  against  our 
southern  brethren,  without  first  restoring  their  fullest 
Constitutional  rights,  as  agreed  upon  after  the  Rev. 
Mr.  White  read  the  chapter,  and  prayed  for  the  bless- 
ing  of  Jehovah  to  descend  into  all  the  hearts  of  those 
constituting  the  Convention,  are  sinning  against  God 
and  their  own  civil  and  religious  liberties.  I  do  not 
include  the  soldiers  who  have  obeyed  the  call  of  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  this  nation.  The  war  cannot  be 
justified  until  every  right  belonging  to  the  slave 
States,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  restored  to  them ;  then,  if  they  still  rebel,  I 
shall  have  nothing  to  say.  But  I  am  well  satisfied 
that  there  would  not  be  the  slightest  necessity  of 
firing  another  gun  or  unsheathing  another  sword, 
providing  the  offer  should  be  made  in  the  same  spirit 
that  the  Rev.  gentleman  was  invited  into  the  National 
Convention  that  adopted  the  Constitution.  That  is,  if 
the  offer  should  be  fully  clothed  in  the  spirit  of  love, 
the  only  power  that  has  ever  yet  conquered  the 
wickedness  of  the  human  heart,  so  that  enemies  would 
love  each  other,  without  which  we  never  can  again 
have  any  Union  of  these  United  States.  The  extremes 
must  love  each  other,  or  union-  is  impossible.  Con- 
vince me  that  war  will  produce  love  to  each  other ; . 
then  I  will  be  for  war,  or  anything  that  will  restore 
the -Union;  for  union  means  love,  harmony,  and 
tranquillity. 

I  don't  want  to  be  understood  to  justify  this  wicked 
rebellion,  for"  I  abhor  it  more  than  any  event  that  has 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  271 

taken  place  since  the  fall  from  Eden.  I  abhor  it,  not 
only  because  it  is  destructive  to  human  life  and 
morals,  and  to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
free  States,  but  because  it  is  destructive  to  our 
Southern  brethren  themselves,  and  still  more  so  to 
the  poor  negro  race  in  this  whole  country.  The 
rebellion  is  far  more  than  equal  to  the  provocation 
given  by  the  abolitionists  of  the  free  States,  and 
complete  extermination  would  not  be  more  than 
equal  to  the  crime  of  such  wicked  rebellion.  But 
when  we  think  of  the  cause  of  their  crime,  it  is 
enough  to  cause  our  hearts  to  sink  with  sadness; 
and  when  we  remember  how  small  a  matter  would 
have  prevented  it,  and  placed  us  on  terms  of  harmony 
and  love,  it  is  enough  to  make  the  very  stones  cry 
out  and  say,  destroy  us  that  we  may  not  see  the  ex- 
tent of  the  wrong  we  have  done  ourselves. 

But  this  great  and  glorious  Union  cannot  be  re- 
stored by  war,  for  it  is  its  opposite,  and  the  more  we 
fight  the  further  we  shall  be  from  a  Union.  Every 
step  taken  by  the  Son  of  God  and  his  holy  Apostles, 
so  clearly  sets  forth  that  he  came  into  the  world  to 
do  away  with  all  cruelties,  and  carnal  weapons  of 
warfare,  and  to  bring  about  a  new  state  of  things. 
A  state  in  which  Christians  should  ever  stand  ready 
to  concede  to  each  other  enough  of  their  political 
opinions  to  enable  them  to  acquiesce  in  civil  and  re- 
ligious government,  that  it  is  so  astonishing  to  me 
to  find  so  many  Christians  and  Christian  ministers, 
recommending  war  to  the  hilt,  even  to  the  extermi- 
i^ation  of  the  white  population  of  one-half  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States,  because*  they  will  not 


272  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

submit  to  have  their  Constitutional  rights  and  liber- 
ties trampled  upon,  instead  of  offering  them  a  com- 
promise or  the  least  concessions  which  the  slave 
States  have  never  asked  for  or  desired.  They  have 
always  been  ready,  and  offered  to  concede  a  large 
portion  of  their  Constitutional  rights  for  the  sake  of 
peace  and  union,  until  after  a  number  of  the  cotton 
States  had  prepared  to  secede.  Then  they  offered 
to  stop,  and  remain  contented  in  the  Union  with  us 
forever,  if  we  would  allow  them  their  full  Constitu- 
tional rights  in  said  Union ;  which  offer  was  unani- 
mously and  indignantly  refused  by  the  anti-slavery 
party.  They  were  offered  by  those  gentlemen  in 
the  latter  part  of  December,  1860,  in  the  Senate 
Committee  of  thirteen  appointed  to  compromise  the 
dispute  between  the  extremes.  In  those  offers  they 
asked  for  nothing  but  their  own,  under  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  of  the  United  States.  If  their  offer 
had  been  accepted  by  the  free  States  we  should  have 
had  no  war,  and  our  civil  peace  and  Union  would 
now  be  like  a  paradise,  and  the  only  unpleasant 
sound  that  would  grate  upon  our  ears,  would  be  the 
howling  of  infidelity,  caused  by  the  great  disappoint- 
ment in  not  being  able  to  break  up  this  heaven-born 
Union  that  was  even  a  happy  home  for  African 
negro  slaves. 

I  repeat  that  I  am  greatly  discouraged  and  have 
fears  that  I  have  lived  to  see  the  end  of  a  free  Re- 
publican Constitutional  Union,  and  the  only  hope  of 
free  institutions,  and  the  rights  of  conscience  in  this 
world,  and  the  end  of  peace.  I  am  asked  why  I  ain 
almost  hopeless?  I  answer,  because  I  find  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  273 

Christian  church,  the  anchor  and  safeguard  to  all 
free  institutions,  advocating  the  war  on  our  Christian 
brethren.  Yea,  they  seem  to  glory  and  exult  in 
the  devastation  and  consternation  of  the  slave  States, 
produced  by  the  advance  of  the  superior  powers  of 
the  free  States.  All  this  without  first  conceding  to 
them  their  just  rights  in  the  Union ;  and  when  we 
know  we  have  the  superior  numerical  strength  and 
power,  and  could  afford  to  do  right  and  be  liberal 
without  the  slightest  humiliation,  and  still  more 
when  we  have  men  of  great  Christian  power  and 
influence,  attributing  this  war  to  the  Supreme  Being, 
and  this  directly  in  the  teeth  of  every  precept  of  the 
New  Testament  and  every  principle  o'f  a  free  repub- 
lican government.  I  believe  the  great  God  of  the 
universe  has  suffered  this  outbreak,  to  teach  us  that 
we  cannot  trample  upon  the  rights  of  our  Christian 
brethren  with  impunity. 

That  we  can  conquer  the  slave  States,  I  have  not 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  But  will  it  be  any  honor  to 
us  ?  Will  it  give  us  a  glow  of  pleasure  when  we 
look  upon  the  ruin  that  has  followed  our  superior 
powers  to  crush  them?  When  we  find  all  this 
has  not  restored  peace  and  union,  and  we  shall  be 
compelled  to  give  them  all  they  asked  for  previous 
to  the  outbreak,  and  knowing  that  if  we  had  ac- 
cepted their  offer,  this  terrible  calamity  would  all 
have  been  avoided.  When  we  see  that  after  all  this, 
the  great  blessings  of  a  perfect  Union  are  gone, 
perhaps,  never  to  return. 

If  Christian  men  still  teach  that  the  Holy  God  in- 
stituted this  war,  just  at  the  right  time  and  in  the 


274  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

right  place,  what  will  the  world  think  of  the  Chris- 
tians' faith  or  their  God  ?  Will  it  not  lead  them  to 
believe  that  the  Supreme  Being  is  opposed  to  repub- 
lican governments,  and  enter  into  extreme  infidelity? 
I  fear  this  will  be  the  result,  because  I  believe  God 
to  be  a  jealous  God,  and  that  he  has  chosen  us  to 
take  charge  of  this  republican  government,  to  be  as 
a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  that  its  great  brilliancy  might 
dazzle  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world,  and  teach  them 
that  the  white  man  was  made  for  self-government, 
and  competent  for  it,  and  to  show  us  that  the  only 
plan  under  existing  fallen  human  nature,  was  to 
concede  to  every  man  his  lawful  rights.  Therefore, 
under  His  blessings  of  love  we  were  divided  into 
independent  State  governments,  in  all  the  municipal 
enactments ;  and  each  left  without  the  shadow  of  a 
right,  by  the  great  adopted  mother  of  them  all  (the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States),  to  interfere  in 
any  manner  whatever  with  the  rights  of  each  other. 
But  in  spite  of  the  precept  to  do  unto  others  as  we 
would  they  should  do  unto  us,  we  have  interfered 
with  the  lawful  rights  of  other  States ;  therefore  we 
may  look  for  universal  anarchy  and  confusion,  or  a 
perpetual  iron-hearted  despotism,  which  will  place 
Anglo-Americans  and  Africans  on  a  social  and  po- 
litical equality,  unless  we  make  up  our  minds  (and 
act  it  out  through  all  the  ramifications  of  this  life) 
to  concede  to  all  others,  white  or  black,  all  their 
lawful  rights  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

If  the  Christian  church  had  stuck  to  her  integrity, 
with  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God,  there  would 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  275 

never  have  been  any  separation  nor  civil  war  in  this 
country.  When  I  read  such  speeches  as  were  made 
by  the  Hon.  T.  K  Arnold  of  111.  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1862,  my 
hopes  for  the  Union  go  down  to  a  low  ebb. 

We  have  had  no  calamity  yet,  to  be  compared  to 
the  one  that  universal  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in 
this  country  will  entail  upon  us.  Think  of  5,000,- 
000  set  at  liberty  among  us,  who  will  by  such  a 
national  act  be  placed  on  a  political  and  social 
equality  with  the  white  man,  and  in  a  very  short 
space  of  time  demand  it.  Then  think  of  the  preju- 
dice of  color,  manners,  and  style,  and  of  the  pride  of 
the  human  heart.  I  will  leave  Mr.  Arnold  to  judge 
of  the  consequences ;  for  every  sensible  unprejudiced 
man  will  see  the  end  from  the  beginning.  May  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel  have  mercy  upon  all  such  men, 
and  avert  such  a  direful  calamity !  For  if  he  does 
not,  and  the  slaves  are  all  freed,  we  shall  be  reduced 
from  the  highest  and  most  powerful  nation  on  earth 
to  the  most  degraded. 

In  conclusion,  I"  will  say  again  that  the  seceding 
slave  States  committed  as  great  a  crime  as  ever  was 
committed  against  any  nation  or  people  since  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  except  that  of  Adam ;  and 
according  to  human  government  and  precedents, 
there  is  no  punishment  adequate  to  their  crime 
short  of  complete  extermination  of  all  the  leaders, 
and  banishment  of  the  aiSers  and  abettors.  But 
those  who  drove  them  to  such  desperation  are  still 
worse,  and  deserve  double  punishment.  They  did 
it  with  their  eyes  wide  open,  and  knew  well  what 


276  AFRICAN   SLAVEBY. 

they  were  at.    They  did  it  without  the  slightest  pro- 
vocation.   They  resolved,  many  years  ago,  to  agitate, 
slander,  and  persecute  the  slave  States,  until  they 
would  drive  them   to   commit  this   desperate  act. 
Now  tlie  very  leaders  of  those  men  cry  rebellion  against 
the  South  louder  than  all  the  world  besides.     They  do 
all  this  to  turn  attention  away  from  their  own  treason, 
to  make  the  world  believe  that  they  are  great  patriots, 
and  lovers  of  the  Union  of  States ;  but  t/iey  never  say 
a  word  in  favor  of  the  constitution,  the  only  safeguard 
of  the  Union.     It  is  so  strange  to  me  that  so  many 
people  of  the  free  States,  are  so  completely  blind- 
folded   by   these    northern    disunionists    and    rebels 
against  the  best  government  ever  known  in  this  earth, 
since  that  in  Eden,  nearly  6000  years  ago.    And  this 
great  and  glorious  boon  is  to  be  destroyed  to  place 
the  African  negro  on  a  social  and  political  equality 
with  the  white  man.     Yet  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  our  best  citizens  follow  in  their  lead,  and  they 
cannot  be  made  to  see  the  diabolical  treason  of  these 
leaders;  and  they  seem  to  look  upon  all  who  en- 
deavor to  point  out  to  them  the  deception  of  these 
devils  incarnate  as  the  friends  of  the  southern  rebel- 
lion.    Consequently  the  mouths  of  the  true  friends 
of  the  Constitution  and  Union  are  locked  up,  and 
they  are  not  allowed  to  speak  out  their  true  con- 
victions, to  expose  the  immense  treason  in  the  free 
States,  and  it  is  feared  they  will  not  see  until  it  is 
too  late ;  for  union  is  love  and  war  its  opposite. 

Tell  me  how  it  was  that  Wendell  Phillips,  Esq., 
after  having  delivered  his  soul  of  a  great  load  of  its 
anathemas  against  the  Constitution  and  Union  in  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  277 

Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  the  other 
day,  and  told  thsm  how  long  he  had  been  laboring 
to  destroy  this,  the  greatest  boon  ever  given  to  man, 
and  then  was  invited  to  visit  the  Senate  Chamber 
of  the  United  States,  and  there  received  the  most 
cordial  congratulations  by  the  majority  of  that  au- 
gust assembly.  If  this  is  not  a  war  on  the  institu- 
tions of  the  South,  and  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Constitution,  why  was  this  not  only  suffered,  but 
the  fell  traitor  and  rebel  invited  to  sow  a  fresh  batch 
of  treason  and  sedition  at  the  capital  of  the  nation  ? 
Now  if  these  leaders  are  fighting  to  save  the  Con- 
stitution, how  came  this  circumstance  to  take  place  ? 
I  would  like  Mr.  Sumner,  or  some  such  talented 
member  of  that  majestic  body,  to  explain  this  enig- 
ma, for  I  confess  that  I  am  too  shallow  to  compre- 
hend it  (if  they  are  all  Constitutional  Union  men). 
And  again,  after  he  (Mr.  Phillips)  had  let  loose  his 
embittered  treason  and  sedition  against  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  in  the  very  citadel  there- 
of, how  came  he  to  be  invited  by  the  State  Senate 
of  Pennsylvania  to  go  to  the  capital  of  that  State  to 
repeat  the  same  treasonable  and  seditious  doctrines  ? 
The  majority  of  the  party  in  power  must  be  in  favor 
of  those  treasonable  doctrines,  or  this  could  never 
have  been  so.  How  is  it  that  I  and  others  have 
been  threatened  to  be  hanged  to  lamp-posts  by  the 
neck  or  locked  up  in  some  fort  for  even  desiring 
peace  and  union  without  the  shedding  of  blood? 
Yet  this  arch  traitor  was  not  only  allowed  but  in- 
vited to  visit  the  United  States  Senate  and  the  Sen- 
ate of  Pennsylvania  to  convert  the  few  remaining 
24 


278  APBICAN  bLAVERY. 

loyal  men,  in  those  important  bodies,  for  the  safety 
of  this  great  Union,  to  treason  and  sedition.  If 
those  Senators  are  Constitutional  Union  loving  men, 
how  is  this?  Tell  me,  for  God's  sake,  for  I  am- in 
great  trouble  on  this  subject. 

A  celebrated  Garrisonian  abolitionist  told  me  this 
morning  that  he  had  been  called  upon  three  times  by 
an  authorized  committee,  to  inquire  of  him  if  I  was 
not  a  fit  subject  for  incarceration  in  Fort  Lafayette. 
I  know  I  have  often  been  threatened  not  only  with 
a  home  in  some  fort,  but  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck. 
Now  tell  me  how  is  this  ?  Why  were  such  threats 
made  against  me?  Why  did  those  Republicans 
denounce  me  as  a  secessionist,  traitor,  and  rebel, 
when  I  had  been  opposing  abolition  movements 
against  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years  ?  They  then  denounced  me  as  a 
negro  hunter,  thief,  murderer,  and  robber,  and  why  ? 
Because  I  stood  up  for  the  Constitution  and  Union, 
and  declared  them  to  be  the  greatest  blessings  that 
heaven  had  ever  bestowed  upon  any  nation  of  this  sin- 
stricken  earth.  They  have  reason  to  believe  and 
know  that  I  have  never  uttered  one  word  on  the 
subject,  that  was  not  in  defence  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  Union.  They  also  know  that  I  hate  a  trai- 
tor or  a  rebel  against  this  great  heaven-like  govern- 
ment, more  than  anything  outside  of  the  kingdom  of 
darkness.  There  is  no  class  of  human  beings  so  sunken 
in  crime,  that  I  hate  as  I  hate  the  man  or  woman 
that  would  even  express  n  dislike  to  the  great  safe- 
guards of  this  groat  and  glorious  government.  It 
has  been  the  object  of  my  earthly  admiration  from 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  279 

• 

my  first  understandings  of  the  great  and  glorious 
national  scheme.  No  abolitionist  or  secessionist,  no 
Constitutional  Union  man  or  woman,  has  ever  heard 
me  utter  a  single  word  against  these  the  greatest 
earthly  blessings  ever  bestowed  upon  any  people. 
No  man  nor  any  set  of  men  can  come  forward  and 
say  with  the  slightest  semblance  of  truth,  that  they 
have  ever  uttered  a  sentence  in  my  hearing  against 
these  two  great  blessings,  that  I  did  not  raise  my 
voice  in  their  defence,  and  they  had  a  right  to  be- 
lieve that  my  life  was  not  respected  by  myself  when 
I  heard  these  great  national  blessings  Denounced  as 
a  "  covenant  with  the  devil,  and  a  league  with  hell !" 
He  who  charges  me  with  having  at  any  time  or 
under  any  circumstances,  got  up  any  association,  or 
united  therewith,  or  joined  any  party  or  association, 
for  any  other  purpose  than  to  arrest  sectionalism  in 
the  general  elections  of  this  nation,  are  foul  slander- 
ers. I  knew  just  as  well  fifteen  years  ago,  that  if 
they  ever  succe'eded  in  a  national  election,  that  we 
should  have  a  civil  war  in  this  country,  as  I  now 
know  that  it  is  existing,  and  the  most  terrible  ever 
known  since  the  Christian  era  set  it.  They  thus 
accuse  me  because  of  the  strong  stand  I  have  always 
taken  in  defence  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Union. 
They  do  it  because  of. the  fearless  manner  in  which 
I  try  to  expose  their  treason,  and  if  such  a  commit- 
tee ever  waited  on  my  Hicksite  friend  as  he  said  this 
morning,  they  must  have  been  base  traitors  like  him- 
self. They  could  have  had  no  other  object  in  view 
(fearing  I  would  tell  on  them,  and  expose  their  in- 
fidelity to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  they 


280  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

I 

knowing  that  I  had  a  personal  knowledge  of  their 
treason)  than  being  anxious  to  put  me  out  of  the 
way. 

My  Hicksite  friend,  even  in  this  conversation,  de- 
nounced me  as  a  traitor,  and  told  me  my  only  object 
in  joining  the  Constitutional  Union  party  was  to 
encourage  the  slave  trade;  and  bitterly  charged 
every  man  who  voted  for  Bell,  Breckenridge,  or 
Douglass  with  being  traitors,  and  in  league  with  the 
South  for  keeping  up  the  slave  trade.  lie  who 
charges  me  with  being  favorable  to  the  slave  trade, 
either  foreign  or  domestic,  is  guilty  of  the  basest 
slander,  no  matter  what  his  pretension  may  be.  I 
have  always  been  opposed  to  the  slave  trade,  because 
it  is  unlawful ;  still  I  do  not  believe  slavery  to  be  a 
moral  evil.  But  if  those  directly  interested  had 
not  been  interfered  with  by  those  Northern  traitors, 
slavery  would  have  been  the  greatest  blessing  to  the 
slaves  that  could  be  bestowed  upon  them  in  this 
world,  and  a  blessing  to  the  whole  white  population 
of  this  country,  as  much  so  to  the  New  Englanders 
as  the  Southerners,  and  all  other  civilized  nations 
of  the  earth.  If  they  should  all  be  freed,  they  will 
at  once  become  the  greatest  curse  to  themselves  and 
the  whole  white  population  of  the  United  States, 
that  has  ever  fallen  upon  any  free  and  happy  people. 
I  have  said  enough  on  this  point  in  former  chapters, 
therefore  I  will  leave  it  for  the  present. 

There  is  not  a  rebel  in  the  South  who  is  not  the 
legitimate  offspring  of  the  abolitionists.  These 
Northern  traitors  are  something  like  Judas  Iscariot, 
Simon's  son,  when  he  said,  "  Why  was  not  this 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

ointment  sold  for. three  hundred  pence,  and  given 
to  the  poor?  This  he  said,  not  that  he  cared  for 
the  poor ;  but  because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had  the 
bag,  and  bare  what  was  put  therein."  John  xii.  5-6. 
Now  these  abolition  fanatics  care  no  more  for  the 
welfare  of  the  poor  slave,  than  Judas  did  for  the 
poor,  when  he  had  accepted  the  price  and  was  ready- 
to  betray  the  Son  of  God.  The  abolition  fanatics, 
perhaps,  have  got. the  bag,  and  if  they  succeed  in 
the  universal  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  they  of 
course  expect  to  take  charge  of  the  government, 
and  control  its  purse  strings.  If  we  are  allowed  to 
judge  from  what  we  now  see  divulged  by  their  near 
approach  to  power,  what  will  it  be  when  they  are 
fully  installed  at  the  head  of  this  great  nation.  The 
poor  negroes  will  lament  their  emancipation,  if  they 
should  not  be  put  on  an  equality  with  the  whites, 
which  every  man  and  woman  of  common  sense 
knows,  will  never  be  in  this  country;  and  the 
attempt  to  bring  about  such  a  state  of  social  and 
political  intercourse,  is  more  devilish,  if  possible,  than 
the  Southern  rebellion.  If  successful,  it  will  pro- 
duce a  general  rebellion  of  the  white  people  against 
the  negroes,  who  are  now  harmless  and  innocent, 
only  uo  far  as  they  are  deceived  into  wrong  by  their 
pretended  white  brethren ;  a  rebellion  that  will  not 
cease,  perhaps,  until  the  American  soil  is  completely 
saturated  with  innocent  blood,  from  Maine  to  Florida, 
and  from*  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  This  will  as- 
suredly be  the  result  of  universal  emancipation  of 
the  slaves  in  the  United  States,  unless  a  universal 
despotism  is  established  on  the  heel  of  emancipation 
24* 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

with  an  immense  standing  army  under  the  control 
of  a  single  monarch.  Then  our  abolition  fanatics 
will  have  their  wish,  for  in  this  way  we  shall  be 
brought  down  and  placed  on  an  equality  with 
Africans. 

It  is  denied  by  many  that  one  of  the  objects  of  the 
republican  party  was  the  emancipation  of  all  the 
slaves  in  the  United  States.  If  that  is  so,  how  came 
Congress  to  pass  the  following  into  laws  by  the  ap- 
proval of  the  President  of  the  United  States  ? 

1.  "A  resolution  to  induce  the  States  to  free  their 
negroes." 

2.  "An  act  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,"  without  the  consent  of  the  people  there. 

3.  "An  act  empowering  the  negroes  to  carry  the 
United  States  mails." 

4.  "  A  new  article  of  war,  prohibiting  officers  in 
the  army  and  navy,  from  returning  the  negroes  to 
their  masters,  who  run  into  their  ranks." 

I  think  these  acts  need  an  explanation  to  make 
them  harmonize  with  the  declarations  of  said  party, 
that  they  would  not  interfere  with  slavery  where  it 
already  existed.  All  four  of  them  are  unconstitu- 
tional, and  will  go  far  towards  weakening  the  chances 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Union;  and  every  true 
unconditional  Constitutional  Union  man,  who  fully 
understands  its  eminent  glories  to  man,  will  think  as 
I  do,  and  who  is  not  willing  to  jeopardize  these  great 
blessings  to  man  (white  or  black)  for  the  sake  of 
freeing  a  few  slaves,  or  for  any  amount  of  military 
glory,  not  even  to  be  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States.  The  thought  of  losing 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  .     283 

the  Union  is  more  terrible  to  them  than  any  other 
earthly  calamity  that  could  possibly  befall  man.  If 
the  restoration  of  the  Union,  with  peace  and  har- 
mony, was  the  only  and  exclusive  object  sought  for 
by  the  party  in  power,  there  would  be  no  attempt 
to  free  the  slaves.  But  it  is  clear  to  every  thinking 
man,  that  emancipation  is  the  main  object  sought  for 
by  many  of  the  leaders,  and  a  vast  number  of  their 
constituents. 

Tell  me  how  can  these  be  purely  Union  men,  and 
yet  trifle  with  it  for  matters  comparatively  of  no  mo- 
ment to  us  for  good,  but  fraught  with  evil,  and  even 
if  successful  without  a  complete  overthrow  of  the 
Union,  would  throw  us  back  as  a  prosperous  nation 
at  least  one  hundred  years,  and  make  the  condition 
of  the  poor  negro  hopeless  ?  Don't  tell  me  again  that 
I  sympathize  with  the  Southern  rebellion,  for  if  I 
was  capable  of  hating  as  bitterly  as  the  devil  hates 
Christianity,  I  could  not  satisfy  myself  with  hatred 
to  any  party  who  favors  the  destruction  of  this  great 
and  glorious  Union,  or  denies  that  white  men  are 
capable  of  self-government;  therefore  I  hate  the 
war  and  the  means  used,  and  the  men  who  produced 
it.  Abolitionism  is  the  progenitor  of  this  rebellion, 
and  will  be  thus  held  in  history.  They  are  respon- 
sible for  its  origination,  for  all  the  sectional  hatred 
between  the  North  and  South,  and  for  all  the  de- 
struction of  life,  limb,  and  the  horrors  of  this  most 
ungodly  rebellion,  for  all  the  devastation  and  con- 
sternation broadcast  over  this  once  happy  country ; 
and  for  a  national  debt,  that  perhaps  will  reach 
before  it  is  settled  $3,000,000,000,  for  which  we 


284r  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

shall  be  compelled  to  raise  by  a  direct  tax  to  pay 
the  annual  interest,  and  to  support  a  standing  army, 
with  the  expenses  of  the  government  of  at  least 
$300,000,000,  without  reducing  the  principal  one 
cent.  In  short,  they  are  the  sum  and  substance  of 
all  the  sectional  villiany  we  have  had,  or  ever  shall 
have  in  this  nation. 

Lay  off  y9ur  sectional  and  partisan  prejudices, 
and  look  the  matter  fair  in  the  face,  and  you  will 
see  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  being  wasted  to 
blind  the  credulous  populace  that  they  may  load 
their  sins  on  the  backs  of  the  innocent,  while  they 
are  destroying  and  devastating  the  best  government 
that  ever  has  been  or  ever  shall  be  on  this  earth, 
this  side  of  the  millenium.  Indeed  it  was  the  fore- 
shadowing of  that  blessed  day. 

I  will  requote  the  peace  measures  offered  by  Jeff. 
Davis  of  Miss,  and  Robert  Toombs  of  Geo.,  that  the 
reader  may  draw  his  own  conclusions,  by  compar- 
ing the  peace,  love,  harmony,  and  union  we  should 
now  have  between  the  extremes  and  throughout  the 
entire  country  with  the  widespread  ruin  and  destruc- 
tion of  human  life,  and  the  thousands  of  millions  of 
hard  earned  property,  wfth  the  devastation  and 
consternation  now  widespread  over  our  country,  all 
of  which  would  have  been  prevented  had  the  fol- 
lowing peace  offerings  been .  accepted  by  the  repub- 
licans in  power,  or  had  the  Crittenden  Compromise 
been  accepted  by  the  same  party. 

"  The  Proceedings  of  the  Senate  Crisis  Committee. 
Washington,  Dec.   26,    1800.     The   Senate    Committee   of 
thirteen  had  another  meeting  to-day,  and  discussed  further 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  285 

the  general  subject  of  reconciliation ;  but  nothing  was  adopted 
which  would  answer  as  a  basis  for  permanent  peace." 

The  (then)  Hon.  Jefferson  Davis  offered  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  which  he  held  to  be  necessary  as 
an  elementary  principle  of  an  adjustment  that  would 
satisfy  the  South,  unless  it  was  a  division  of  Terri- 
tories : — 

"  Resolved,  That  it  shall  be  declared  by  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  that  property  in  slaves,  recognized  as  such  by 
the  local  law  of  any  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  shall  stand 
on  the  same  footing  in  all  Constitutional  and  Federal  relations 
as  any  other  species"  of  property  so  recognized,  and,  like  other 
property,  shall  not  be  subject  to  be  divested  or  impaired  by 
the  local  law  of  any  other  State,  either  in  escape  thereto  or  of 
transit  or  sojourn  of  the  owner  therein ;  and  in  no  case  what- 
ever shall  such  property  be  subject  to  be  divested  or  impaired 
by  any  legislative  act  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any  of  the 
Territories  thereof." 

The  Republicans  voting  unanimously  against  the 
resolution,  and  all  the  others  for  it,  it  was  lost  by  a 
sectional  vote. 

The  following  resolutions  were  then  offered  by 
the  (then)  Hon.  Eobert  Toombs  of  Georgia,  and  were 
lost  in  the  same  manner  as  the  above. 

"  First,  That  the  people  of  the  United  States  shall  have 
an  equal  right  to  emigrate  to  and  settle  in  the  present  or  any 
future  acquired  Territories,  with  whatever  property  they  may 
possess,  including  slaves,  and  be  securely  protected  in  its 
peaceable  enjoyment  until  such  Territory  may  be  admitted 
as  a  State  in  the  Union,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  she  may 
determine,  on  an  equality  with  all  the  existing  States. 

"  Second,  That  property  in  slaves  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
same  protection  from  the  government  of  the  United  States  in 
all  of  its  departments,  everywhere,  which  the  Constitution 


286  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

confers  the  power  upon  it  to  extend  to  any  other  property ; 
provided  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  limit 
or  restrain  the  right  now  belonging  to  every  State  to  pro- 
hibit, abolish,  or  establish  and  protect  slavery  within  its 
limits. 

"  Third,  That  persons  committing  crimes  against  slave  pro- 
perty in  one  State,  and  fleeing  to  another,  shall  be  delivered 
up  in  the  same  manner  as  persons  committing  other  crimes, 
and  that  the  laws  of  the  State  from  which  such  persons  flee 
shall  be  the  test  of  criminality." 

Now,  for  the  sake  of  the  common  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  the  whole  country,  let  us  reason  together 
and  look  this  matter  fair  in  the  face,  remembering 
that  we  all  have  the  same  interest  at  stake.  "We 
are  all  one  people,  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  and 
every  blow  we  strike  the  South,  hits  us  just  as  hard 
as  it  does  them,  and  vice  versa.  For  God's  and 
humanity's  sake,  let  us  now  try  to  settle  this  matter 
like  brethren.  We  can  yet  call  a  national  conven- 
tion and  accept  the  offer ;  it  is  not  even  now  too  late. 
This  union  will  never  be  fully  restored  without 
some  such  settlement.  We  may  whip  the  South, 
but  that  will  not  bring  peace  and  union  back  to  our 
distracted  country ;  but  it  will  consign  us  to  an  eter- 
nal despotism,  and  destroy  the  last  vestige  of  hope 
for  the  poor  negro  race  in  this  country.  We  shall 
never  know  the  great  value  of  this  God-created 
Union,  until  it  is  lost,  and  when  once  lost,  it  will  be 
lost  forever.  Human  nature  can  be  managed  by 
Gospel  means,  but  not  by  coercion.  The  South  want 
nothing  but  to  be  placed  on  a  political  equality  with 
the  North,  where  they  would  have  the  same  protec- 
tion and  feel  themselves  entirely  safe.  Now  see 


AFRICAN  SLAVEKY.  287 

how  easy  it  would  have  been  to  have  prevented  this 
widespread  ruin.  May  the  Lord  save  us  from  such 
an  interminabk  woe  !  This  settlement  would  not  add 
one  slave  more  to  the  number,  nor  increase  the  num- 
ber of  slave  States,  but  would  most  undoubtedly 
result  in  making  four  or  five  of  the  border  slave 
States  free,  and  incalculably  increase  the  liberty  and 
happiness  of  the  slaves  in  all  the  other  -slave  States. 
It  would  end  the  controversy,  and  our  peace  and 
union  would  flow  as  a  river  until  we  should  be 
engulfed  in  the  Millennium. 

As  I  have  said,  we  may  ultimately  overpower  the 
Southern  States,  but  a  standing  army  will  have  to 
be  kept  in  the  field,  to  keep  them  in  subjection, 
which  will  eat  out  our  very  vitals,  and  this  curse 
will  be  our  doom  throughout  all  time.  It  will  place 
tyrants  over  us,  and  reduce  us  from  a  self-governing 
people  to  slaves,  and  force  us  to  social,  political,  and 
domestic  equality  with  African  negroes.  For  God's 
sake  stop  and  think  before  you  take  another  step 
towards  coercion,  for  I  tell  you  the  displeasure  of 
Omnipotence  will  eternally  rest  upon  us  all,  and  our 
political  glory  will  be  extinguished  forever,  and  the 
bright  sunbeams  of  our  national  Union  will  cease  to 
arouse  the  admiration  of  all  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  earth,  and  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  kings,  monarchs, 
or  potentates  of  other  lands.  It  will  veil  heaven  in 
sackcloth,  elevate  infidelity,  and  send  a  thrill  or 
howl  of  glory  throughout  deep,  dark  damnation. 

I  tell  you  that  a  union  of  these  United  States 
cannot  be  produced  by  war  or  coercion.  A  free 
Republican  Union  has  never  been  nor  never  will  be 


288  AFRICAN  SLAVERV. 

created  or  restored  by  coercion.  Coercion  and  the 
sword  are  the  legitimate  weapons  of  monarchs,  or 
the  last  resort  against  oppression ;  and  monarchical  or 
despotic  governments  are  the  only  offsprings  of 
coercion  by  the  sword.  Better  for  us  a  thousand 
times  we  had  never  broken  loose  from  our  mother 
country,  better  for  us  we  had  never  tasted  complete 
liberty,  and  felt  the  exhilarating  influence  of  a  true 
union  of  hearts.  Yea,  it  would  have  been  better 
for  us  had  the  blessed  Lord  suffered  the  destroying 
angel  to  have  swept  the  whole  nation  at  one  dash 
from  the  occupancy  of  this  part  of  his  vineyard, 
while  we  were  in  a  state  of  peace,  and  harmony,  than 
it  will  be  for  us  to*  attempt  to  reconstruct  or  restore 
our  lost  Union  by  coercion  and  civil  war ;  for  I  tell 
you  it  will  produce  the  very  opposite  and  secure 
our  nationtal,  state,  and  individual  ruin.  The  dis- 
pleasure of  Jehovah  is  already  upon  us,  and  unless 
we  change  our  ideas  of  restoration  in  this  matter,  it 
will  grind  us  to  powder.  And  all  this  because  the 
Great  Giver  of  the  unbounded  and  unlimited  bless- 
ings we  have  enjoyed  through  our  great  and  glori- 
ous union  of  States,  charged  us  with  a  portion  of  an 
accursed  race,  for  their  good  and  our  glory  and 
benefit,  and  by  whom  all  the  States  were  equally 
blessed. 

The  South  has  been  trying  for  more  than  fifty 
years  to  drive  the  negro  question  from  the  political 
arena,  that  the  Union  might  be  complete.  They 
have  offered  to  concede  three  quarters  of  their  Con- 
stitutional rights  on  the  question  of  slavery.  Read 
the  thirteen  resolutions  passed  by  a  Southern  con- 


AFB1CAN  SLAVERY.  289 

vention  in  1850,  at  Nashville,  Term.,  and  their 
proposition  voted  for  in  1848,  by  a  unanimous  South 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress,  to  extend  the  Missouri 
Compromise  through  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  You 
will  find  them  in  the  reports  of  1848 ;  but  those 
published  above  are  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  true 
Union  man  that  the  Southern  States  did  not  want 
to  break  up  this  Union,  but  to  save  it  in  peace  and 
harmony.  Now  don't  stop  to  denounce  me  as  a 
sympathizer  with  the  Southern  rebellion,  for  I  tell 
you  I  hate  it  more  than  you  do  who  are  willing  to 
destroy  the  Union  to  get  clear  of  slavery.  Look 
over  Davis's  and  Toombs's  offers,  as  above,  and  just 
think  how  different  our  condition  would  now  be 
had  the  party  in  power  accepted  that  last  offer, 
though  in  that  they  asked  for  a  great  deal  more 
than  they  ever  did  before,  but  for  nothing  more 
than  their  constitutional  rights.  Now,  for  human- 
ity, union,  and  peace  sake,  stop  and  think  before 
you  take  another  step  to  coerce  the  South,  and  let 
us  call  a  national  convention  and  make  those  amend- 
ments to  the  national  constitution.  I  don't  mean  that 
we  shall  draw  our  armies  from  the  field  unless  the 
South  should  withdraw  theirs. 

I  am  told  it  is  too  late  now  to  make  any  changes. 
How  are  we  to  know  that  it  is  too  late  if  we  refuse 
to  make  the  offer  ?  How  came  the  majority  in  the 
committee  of  thirteen  to  refuse  when  it  was  not  too 
late  ?  Simply  because  it  was  a  union  saver  and  a 
peace  restorer,  and  a  complete  abolisher  of  the  ever- 
lasting slave  question  from  the  halls  of  Congress, 
and  a  preventer  of  any  and  every  man  from  sad- 
25 


290  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

dling  the  poor  unfortunate  negro,  and  riding  him 
into  power. 

The  publication  of  this  book  may  ride  me  off  to 
some  fort  or  dungeon;  if  so,  I  must  submit  to  my 
fate.  I  know  that  I  shall  go  there  with  a  conscious- 
ness that  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  prevent  the 
collision  between  the  North  and  South  in  the  first 
place,  and  in  the  second,  to  save  this  great  and 
glorious  nation  from  an  everlasting  overthrow.  I 
shall  feel  guiltless,  and  posterity  will  not  rise  up 
and  curse  me  for  what  I  have  done.  If  I  could  be 
the  means  of  convincing  some  good  men  of  the  great 
error  of  forcing  or  coercing  men  and  women  into 
a  union  (we  had  just  as  well  undertake  to  coerce 
them  to  be  Christians),  or  if  I  should  be  the  means 
of  convincing  some  of  my  Christian  brethren  of  the 
different  means  necessary  to  establish  despotic  or 
monarchical  governments,  and  a  free  republican 
union,  I  should  feel  happy  locked  up  in  some  fort 
for  my  sins  against  abolitionism  and  infidelity.  I 
have  many  good  friends  whom  I  love  much,  by 
whom  I  shall  be  stigmatized  as  a  traitor  to  my 
country  for  this  publication,  but  if  they  could  see 
and  know  my  heart  they  would  not  charge  me  with 
such  a  crime.  I  had  rather  be  charged  with  murder 
in  the  first  degree,  or  with  highway  robbery,  and 
either  one  would  be  equally  true  and  even  more  proba- 
ble ;  for  I  look  upon  a  traitor  as  being  far  worse  than 
either.  No  patriot  will  interfere  with  the  constitu- 
tional and  lawful  rights  of  any  State,  and  he  who 
does  it  is  a  traitor,  and  ought  to  be  hung  up  by  the 
neck  until  he  is  dead.  True  patriots  are  willing  to 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  291 

yield  to  any  man  or  sgt  of  men  or  States  all  of 
their  lawful  rights  and  a  little  more  for  the  sake  of 
the  general  good  of  their  country ;  especially  to  save 
it  from  a  civil  war,  and  any  refusal  of  the  majority  to 
yield  to  the  minority  all  of  their  constitutional  rights 
is  treason,  braggadocio,  bullyism,  and  infidelity. 

All  abolitionists  are  not  traitors  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word,  for  I  know  some  true  men  who  are 
abolitionists,  but  not  of  the  Garrisonian  stripe.  See 
what  a  condition  we  are  in  just  by  refusing  the  mi- 
nority their  Constitutional  rights  in  our  National 
Commonwealth,  and  how  righteously  easy  it  would 
have  been  to  have  prevented  all  this  national  and 
individual  ruin.  If  our  leaders  had  been  true 
unadulterated  patriots  in  the  free  States,  all  would 
now  be  happy  and  prosperous,  east,  west,  north  and 
south.  The  South  may  soon  be  conquered  in  war,  but 
our  glorious  Union  will  never  be  restored  with 
peace,  harmony,  and  tranquillity,  without  some  such 
concessions  as  asked  for  in  the  offers  above. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  short  quotation 
from  a  speech  made  by  the  Hon.  John  Q.  Adams 
not  long  before  his  death,  before  the  New  York 
Historical  Society. 

How  truly  does  he  say,  "  but  the  indissoluble  link 
of  the  Union  between  the  people  of  the  several 
States  of  this  confederated  nation,  is,  after  all,  not 
in  the  right,  but  in  the  heart"  and  also  "far  better 
will  it  be  for  the  people  of  the  disunited  States,  to 
part  in  friendship  with  each  other,  than  be  held  together 
by  constraint" 

"  In  calm  hours  of  self-possession,  the  right  of  a  State  to 


292  AFRICAN    SLAVERY. 

nullify  an  act  of  Congress,  is  ^oo  absurd  for  argument,  and 
too  odious  for  discussion.  The  right  of  a  State  to  secede  from 
the  Union  is  equally  disowned  by  the  principles  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  Nations  acknowledge  no  judge  be- 
tween them  upon  earth,  and  their  governments  from  necessity, 
must  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other  decide  when  the 
failure  of  one  party  to  a  contract  to  perform  its  obligations, 
absolves  the  other  from  the  reciprocal  fulfilment  of  his  own. 
But  this  last  of  earthly  powers  is  not  necessary  to  the  freedom 
or  independence  of  States,  connected  together  by  the  immedi- 
ate action  of  the  people,  of  whom  they  consist.  To  the  people 
alone  is  there  reserved,  as  well  the  dissolving,  as  the  con- 
stituent power,  and  that  power  can  be  exercised  by  them  only 
under  the  tie  of  conscience,  binding  them  to  retributive  justice 
of  Heaven. 

"With  these  qualifications,  we  may  admit  the  same  right  as 
vested  in  the  people  of  every  State  in  the  Union,  with  reference 
to  the  General  Government,  which  was  exercised  by  the  people 
of  the  United  Colonies,  with  reference  to  the  supreme  head  of 
the  British  empire,  of  which  they  formed  a  part — and  under 
these  limitations,  have  the  people  of  each  State  in  the  Union 
a  right  to  secede  from  the  confederated  Union  itself. 

"  Thus  stands  the  right.  But  the  indissoluble  link  of  Union 
between  the  people  of  the  several  States  of  this  confederated 
nation,  is,  after  all,  not  in  the  right,  but  in  the  heart.  If  the 
day  should  ever  come  (may  Heaven  avert  it)  when  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people  of  these  States  shall  be  alienated  from 
each  other ;  when  the  fraternal  spirit  shall  give  way  to  cold 
indifference,  or  collisions  of  interest  shall  fester  into  hatred, 
the  band  of  political  association  will  not  long  hold  together 
parties  no  longer  attracted  by  the  magnetism  of  conciliated 
interests  and  kindly  sympathies  ;  and  far  better  will  it  be  for 
the  people  of  the  disunited  States,  to  part  in  friendship  with 
each  other,  than  to  be  held  together  by  constraint.  Then 
will  be  the  time  for  reverting  to  the  precedents  which  oc- 
curred at  the  formation  and  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  to 
form  again  a  more  perfect  Union,  by  dissolving  that  which 
could  no  longer  bind,  and  to  leave  the  separated  parts  to  be 
reunited  by  the  law  of  political  gravitation  to  the  centre." 


CHAPTEE   VI. 

Have  the  Friends  or  Quakers  Produced  this  War  ? 

I  HAVE  very  often  heard  it  said  that  the  Quakers 
were  all  abolitionists,  and  consequently  bad  citizens. 
There  is  an  impression  throughout  the  free  States,  as 
well  as  the  slave  States,  that  the  society  of  Friends 
were  among  the  leaders,  if  not  the  instigators  or 
originators,  and  perpetuators  of  all  the  schemes  of 
abolitionism  in  the  United  States,  and  that  they 
were  contrivers  and  engineers  of  the  underground 
railroad,  and  all  other  schemes  of  slave  stealing 
ever  concocted  in  this  country.  That  their  object 
is  to  get  their  labor  for  nothing,  and  I  have  often 
heard  stories  similar  to  the  following  told  on  them. 
That  they  would  contrive  to  get  the  slaves  to  run 
away  from  their  masters,  and  take  them  in  their 
employ,  and  agree  to  pay  them  ten  dollars  per 
month,  and  board  them  for  ten  months,  the.  wages  to 
be  paid  at  the  end  of  the  time.  They  worked  them 
very  hard,  from  the  first  of  March  to  the  middle  of 
December,  at  which  time  they  would  inform  the 
runaways  that  they  had  just  got  news  that  their 
masters  were  in  the  neighborhood  after  them,  and 
that  they  must  take  the  railroad  immediately  for 
Canada,  or  they  would  be  caught ;  and  frighten  the 
•  25*  (  293  ) 


294  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

poor  darkies  out  of  their  wits.  They  would  have 
their  tickets  ready  through  to  Canada,  and  pack  up 
provisions  enough  to  last  them  through,  and  then 
say  they  would  send  their  wages  as  soon  as  they 
sold  their  crops ;  so  the  poor  negroes  would  run 
into  Canada  penniless.  But  their  Quaker  friend 
would  never  send  the  wages.  And  in  that  way 
they  would  get  their  ten  months'  labor  fox  their 
board,  and  about  twenty  dollars.  The  underground 
railroad  would  bring  them  another  supply  for  spring, 
who  would  be  carried  through  the  same  manoeuvres, 
and  run  off  in  the  same  way,  and  so  on,  they  would 
get  their  work  done  in  that  way  for  almost  nothing. 
These  charges  are  false,  and  as  slanderous  as  the 
charges  of  cruelties  against  the  Southern  slavehold- 
ers. The  Orthodox  Quakers  have  never  meddled 
with  slavery  except  in  a  lawful  way,  and  that,  I  be- 
lieve, has  only  happened  in  a  few  special  cases,  and 
then  by  lawful  petitioning.  There  are  no  better 
citizens  in  the  world  than  the  Orthodox  Friends; 
they  have  always  attended  strictly  to  their  own 
business,  and  let  other  people's  alone;  which  if  all 
others  here  in  the  North  had  done,  the  present  trou- 
ble would  never  been  known  or  thought  of,  and  the 
Quakers  of  North  Carolina  would  be  as  happy  to- 
day, as  their  brethren  were  twenty  years  ago  in  the 
North,  and  there  would  be  a  perfect  business  Union 
this  day  between  the  Quakers  of  the  free  States  and 
the  slaveholders  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
the  slaveholders  of  the  South  would  be  allowed  this 
day,  and  at  all  times,  to  travel  through  the  free 
States  anywhere,  with  their  body  bond-servants,  un- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  295 

molested ;  and  Quakers  would  this  day  be  in  Charles- 
ton, from  free  States,  attending  to  their  business,  and 
would  be  respected  and  loved  there,  as  they  are  here 
at  their  homes. 

Think  of  it.  What  a  different  state  of  things  we 
should  have  to-day.  And  how  quick  peace  would 
be  declared,  and  everybody  at  their  homes  attend- 
ing to  their  legitimate  business,  if  every  man 
would  suddenly  imbibe  the  principles  of  the  Qua- 
kers in  attending  to  their  own  business  strictly  and 
let  other  people's  alone. 

I  have  been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Socie- 
ty of  Friends  for  thirty  years,  and  have  had  a  great 
many  business  transactions  with  them,  some  of  long 
continuation,  and  some  short,  and  have  made  as 
many  settlements,  and  I  can  testify  to  their  correct- 
ness and  honesty  in  all  their  transactions  in  life. 
I  have  never  known  one  to  be  troublesome  or  quar- 
relsome in  a  single  case.  They  believe  in  "  render- 
ing unto  Cesar  the  things  that  are  Cesar's,  and  unto 
God  the  things  that  are  God's." 

The  Quakers  are  anti-slavery  in  principle  and 
in  fact ;  they  are  not  slave-holders,  and  do  not  allow 
their  members  to  own  them,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly. But  they  are  a  law-abiding  people,  and 
are  opposed  to  any  interference  with  the  laws  of 
other  States.  They  never  have  interfered  with 
slavery  beyond  their  own  society ;  they  say  they  are 
not  responsible  for  the  institution  of  slavery  in  this 
country.  I  have  had  many  conversations  with  them 
on  the  subject,  and  some  warm  arguments;  they 
differ  with  me  on  the  divine  institution  of  slavery, 


296  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

but  many  of  them  agree  with  me  on  many  points. 
One  is  that  the  negro  race  is  a  lower  grade  of  beings, 
and  the  two  races  never  can  be  on  an  equality  to- 
gether in  this  world.  And  many  of  them  say  the 
slaves  are  better  off  where  they  are  than  they  would 
be  free.  They  are  honest,  upright,  and  sober,  and 
are  not  apt  to  speak  unless  they  have  something  to 
say.  They  are  generally  magnanimous,  generous, 
and  slow  to  anger ;  and  very  liberal  where  need  be, 
and  mostly  kind  in  their  dispositions.  Of  course  they 
have  some  scabby  sheep  among  them.  But  on  the 
general  they  are  outwardly  all  that  pertains  to  a 
true  Christian  people,  which  must  flow  from  a  pure 
fountain  within. 

I  don't  know  that  I  ever  saw  one  angry,  or  the 
least  excited.  This  gives  them  great  advantage  in 
debate,  and  they  are  mostly  very  respectful  to 
the  feelings  of  others.  Upon  the  general,  they  are 
as  near  perfection  as  a  society  can  be  in  all  their 
walks  in  this  world.  And  I  believe,  had  they  not 
rejected  the  sacraments,  as  a  Christian  society,  they 
would  now  control  a  great  part  of  this  world,  pro- 
vided they  had  kept  up  their  present  principles  as 
they  have  mostly  done. 

I  am  not  a  Quaker  nor  never  was,  and  never  had 
a  relation  that  was.  And  I  believe  there  was  not 
one  in  the  county  in  which  I  was  born  and  raised. 
There  were  some  in  the  adjoining  county.  I  am 
not  now  connected  with  them  in  any  way  whatever, 
and  I  have  no  personal  interest  in  them  to  influence 
me  to  speak  for  them.  They  take  care  of  their  own 
poor,  and  never  allow  them  to  suffer  want.  I  never 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  297 

saw  one  a  beggar,  or  in  the  county  almshouse. 
They  have  their  own  asylums  for  the  poor.  I 
think  they  are  somewhat  in  error  in  their  ecclesi- 
astical arrangements.  But,  upon  the  whole,  they 
are  the  most  upright,  straightforward,  and  consist- 
ent citizens  in  this  country. 

I  made  a  remark  of  this  kind  the  other  day  to  a 
gentleman,  and  he  said  that  could  not  be,  for  he 
thought  Passmore  Williamson  was  a  very  meddle- 
some man,  and  he  was  a  Quaker.  I  told  him  I  had 
known  Mr.  Williamson  for  twenty-five  years,  and 
knew  he  had  not  been  a  member  of  the  Orthodox 
Meeting  for  many  years ;  therefore  they  are  not 
responsible  for  his  conduct.  Though  I  know  no- 
thing whatever  against  his  character,  but  his  fanati- 
cal notions  of  slavery,  which  I  think  have  arisen 
from  great  zeal  without  knowledge  on  that  great 
subject. 

I  have  often  thought  that  if  the  national  Legisla- 
ture were  made  entirely  of  Orthodox  Quakers  for 
six  years,  we  should  have  such  an  example  set  that 
would  do  the  nation  good.  I  believe  every  article 
and  section  of  the  constitution  and  laws  would  be 
carried  out  and  executed  to  the  letter,  even  the 
fugitive  slave  clause,  for  they  are  a  law-loving,  and 
law-abiding  people.  They  have,  from  George  Fox 
down  to  the  present,  made  it  a  part  of  their  religion 
to  respect  the  laws  of  the  land.  And  yet  they  have 
been  subjects  of  great  persecutions  at  times,  even  in 
this  country,  and  by  professing  Christians  too.  The 
Puritans  persecuted  them  to  death  in  some  cases,  in 
New  England,  where  all  the  abominations  have 


298  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

been  conceived  and  born,  that  have  brought  about 
the  awful  crisis  now  in  this  nation,  that  perhaps  has 
ended  the  freedom  and  happiness  of  us  all,  in  trying 
to  free  those  that  God  never  intended  to  have  tem- 
poral freedom.  For  when  Noah  said  a  servant  of 
servants  he  shall  be  to  his  brethren,  He,  Jehovah, 
named  no  time  this  servitude  should  cease.  He  did 
not  say,  until  you  are  sufficiently  punished,  or  until 
you  have  repented,  and  have  acknowledged  your 
crime  against  your  old  parent.  But  we  are  left  to 
suppose  it  will  run  through  all  time,  and  prevent 
their  freedom,  and  social  equality.  He  has  given 
them  a  more  loathsome  and  obnoxious  .appearance 
to  nearly  all  the  senses  of  their  brethren,  the  descend- 
ants of  Shem  and  Japheth  ;  so  much  so,  that  social 
and  domestic  equality  is  impossible,  and  their  free- 
dom would  be  the  means  of  their  extermination. 
I  have  sufficiently  discussed  this  point  in  the  first 
and  second  chapters,  to  which  I  refer  the  reader. 

I  say  the  Quakers  have  done  nothing  to  produce 
this  war  between  brethren  of  the  same  family. 

A  great  many  people  seem  not  to  be  aware  that 
there  was  a  split  in  the  Society  of  Friends  in  1827, 
on  the  atonement.  Elias  Hicks  took  the  ground 
that  there  was  no  more  virtue  in  the  shedding  of 
Christ's  blood  than  that  of  a  bull  or  a  ram ;  and  he 
had  many  followers ;  and  the  Orthodox  Society  was 
cleansed  thereby  from  fanaticism  and  discord.  The 
new  societies  are  called  the  Hicksites.  They  are  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  Orthodox  Quakers  or  Fox- 
ites.  And  the  Orthodox  are  not  responsible  for  any 
doings  of  the  Hicksites  no  more  than  they  are  for  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  299 

doings  of  Passmore  Williamson,  or  any  other  anti- 
slavery  fanatic.  There  are  many  Garrisonians  among 
the  Hicksites,  and  infidelity  prevails  among  them 
to  a  very  great  extent,  and  in  nearly  all  the  infidel 
associations  that  come  along,  we  find  a  large  sprink- 
ling of  Hicksite  Quakers,  and  at  the  public  contro- 
versies that  have  taken  place  between  Christians  and 
infidels,  we  find  very  prominent  Hicksite  Quakers 
in  attendance,  and  on  the  side  of  infidelity.  The 
last  controversy  of  the  kind  I  attended  was  at  Con- 
cert Hall,  between  Dr.  Berg,  D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  an  Englishman  named  Barker  who  was  once  a 
minister  of  tbl  Gospel  of  Christ ;  at  which  I  saw  a 
number,  yes  many  of  the  disciples  of  Hicks  seated 
through  the  house,  and  some  on  the  platform,  all  of 
whom  seemed  to  be  on  the  side  of  infidelity.  I  was 
personally  acquainted  with  a  number  I  saw  there 
of  that  class,  all  of  whom  seemed  to  exult  more 
than  any  others  whenever  a  hard  blow  would  be 
let  loose  against  Christianity  by  that  celebrated 
infidel,  by  shouting,  and  stamping  their  feet,  and 
clapping  their  hands,  or  pounding  the  floor  with 
their  .  canes.  They  followed  this  deserter  from  the 
Kingdom  of  God  into  the  kingdom  of  the  devil, 
the  Sunday  Institute,  that  was  got  up  to  blaspheme 
the  name  of  the  Son  of  God;  they  there  worship 
at  the  feet  of  infidelity. 

I  cannot  say  that  this  self-styled  society  of  Friends 
has  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  awful  calamity  that 
is  now  afflicting  this  country  from  centre  to  circum- 
ference. For  the  only  religion  they  seem  to  profess, 
is  to  oppose  the  atonement  of  our  blessed  Lord,  and 


300*  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

denounce  slavery  and  slaveholders.  They  have 
dealt  largely  in  the  many  publications  that  have  so 
embittered  the  present  generation  of  the  free  States 
against  the  slaveholders  of  the  South  and  all  the 
Southern  people,  except  the  poor  negroes  who  are 
always  better  off  and  happier  than  the  five-sixths  of 
the  poor  people  of  the  free  States.  I  have  heard 
some  of  them  express  themselves  exultingly  over 
the  war  now  prevailing,  and  say  many  thousand 
lives  may  be  lost,  but  the  slaves  would  be  set  at 
liberty,  and  that  would  pay  for  all. 

Those  are  the  people  that  have  given  the  Ortho- 
dox Quakers  a  bad  name,  a  greattpmany  people 
not  knowing  that  Apollyon  had  assailed  the  genuine 
ranks  of  the  true  Friends,  and  made  many  disciples, 
who  formed  themselves  into  a  separate  and  independ- 
ent society,  and  have  closed  the  only  door  against 
themselves  ever  opened  for  eternal  life.  But  among 
them  are  many  useful  citizens,  and  outside  of  their 
religious  views  of  the  atonement  and  their  activity 
against  slavery,  they  are  much  the  same  as  the  Or- 
thodox. 

The  true  Quakers  are  among  the  leaders  in  all 
the  great  improvements  in  the  country.  They  have 
a  great  many  rich  men  among  them ;  and  we  have 
had  the  Copes,  the  Browns,  the  Woods,  &c.  &c.,  and 
they  have  not  withheld  their  hands  from  any  good 
thing.  They  are  never  hasty  in  any  new  improve- 
ment ;  but,  when  once  started,  they  are  untiring  in 
their  perseverance. 

The  Quakers,  from  George  Fox  down,  have  been 
opposed  to  war.  In  this  they  have  been  proverbial 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  301 

or  celebrated  for  their  opposition  to  all  war  and 
bloodshed,  and  the  Quakers  of  the  Eevolution  that 
entered  the  battle-field,  were  disowned,  or  excommu- 
nicated ;  they  were  called  the  fighting  or  free  Qua- 
kers, and  had  their  meeting  house  in  this  city  at  the 
S.  W.  corner  of  Fifth  and  Arch  Sts. ;  but  I  don't 
think  they  have  worshipped  there  for  many  years. 
It  was  said  that  they  had  to  have  Quaker  preaching 
there  a  certain  number  of  times  every  year,  but 
they  had  no  preachers.  Yet  some  one  of  their  mem- 
bers would  go  there  at  the  appointed  time,  and  go 
through  the  manoeuvres.  It  was  said  the  meeting 
house  was  le^to  them  in  that  way.  I  do  not  vouch 
for  those  reports. 

But  I  find  a  significant  change  has  come  over 
many  of  the  Friends.  The  Hicksites  seem  nearly 
all  to  approve  of  the  present  civil  war.  This  is 
strange,  for  they  have  always  taken  the  ground  that 
when  attacked  they,  would  not  resist  by  force  of 
arms,  but  fold  their  hands  and  trust  in  the  Lord  for 
redemption.  The  disciples  of  Elias  Hicks  were 
celebrated  for  this  kind  of  defence.  But,  strange 
to  say,  they  seem  to  encourage  the  prosecution  of  this 
war  to  the  hilt,  to  the  steel,  and  to  the  death.  And 
all  the  stories  we  ever  heard  told  about  the  mild- 
ness of  the  Quaker  in  the  time  of  an  attack,  showed 
them  to  be  celebrated  for  compromise  in  order  to 
make  peace.  And  above  all  their  great  coolness 
when  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy  of  any  kind,  so  that 
the  worst  of  men  have  been  made  to  love  them,  and 
offer  terms  of  compromise,  even  when  they  had  all 
26 


302  AFB1CAN  SLAVERY. 

in  their  hands.  Very  many  such  stories  have  been 
told  about  them,  to  illustrate  their  cool  wit  and  lib- 
erality to  enemies.,  and  all  others,  under  all  circum- 
stances of  life.  Therefore  is  it  not  wonderful  that 
they  should  be  opposed  to  any  peace  measures  being 
introduced  in  order  to  settle  the  present  trouble  in 
some  way  to  save  the  Union  without  the  shedding 
of  blood? 

How  are  we  to  account  for  this  among  this  class  of 
Quakers  ?  I  don't  say  all  of  them,  but  many  or  most 
of  them.  Why  did  they  and  all  others  that  went  in 
for  the  success  of  the  party  now  in  power,  say  one 
year  ago  that  there  was  no  danger,  th^  no  attempt 
would  be  made  by  the  South  to  secede  from  the 
Union,  let  who  would  be  elected ;  that  even  South 
Carolina  could  not  be  kicked  out  of  the  Union. 
Such  declarations  were  made  by  all  tfie  leaders  of 
the  successful  party,  and  their  followers,  in  reply  to 
the  declarations  made  by  the  opposition,  that  the 
success  of  the  republicans  would  produce  this  trou- 
ble, unless  they  nominated  and  elected  men  who 
were  known  in  the  South  not  to  be  abolitionists. 
And  why  do  they  say  now  this  trouble  had  to  come 
anyhow,  and  let  us  push  it  through  at  the  mouth  of 
the  cannon,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  at  the 
edge  of  the  sword  ?  Why  did  they  then  pronounce 
such  anathemas  upon  us  for  foretelling  these  calami- 
ties ?  And  now  why  do  they  denounce  us  as  seces- 
sionists, and  rebels  against  the  government,  because 
we  tell  them  the  only  way  to  save  the  Union,  and 
have  a  perpetual  peace,  will  be  to  give  the  South  her 
equal  rights  in  the  territories  of  the  United  States, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  303 

and  give  them  such  guaranties  as  will  make  them 
feel  safe  in  the  Union  with  us. 

J  ask  this  question  of  all  that  I  talk  with 
who  differ  with  me,  and  the  only  reply  I  get  is :  It 
had  to  be,  and  therefore  there  was  no  way  to  avoid 
it.  I  ask,  have  you  tried  any  other  way  ?  Did  we 
not  tell  you  that  your  way  would  produce  destruc- 
tion to  this  heaven-like  Union  ?  And  did  you  not 
tell  us  we  were  only  sensationists,  fools,  and  locofoco 
lick-spittles,  and  all  such  hard  things  ?  Now  if  we 
were  such  good  prophets  then,  and  foretold  just  what 
has  come  to  pass,  why  not  respect  us  now,  when  we 
tell  you,  und*  the  same  prophetic  vision,  that  war 
will  never  save  this  Union  ?  We  may  subdue  the 
South,  but  I  tell  you  again  the  white  man  has  never 
yet  been  conquered  nor  never  will  be  by  force.  He 
may  be  subdued  by  an  overpowering  force,  and 
held  in  subjugation  by  the  same ;  but  he  cannot  be 
conquered.  I  mean  he  will  never  submit  volunta- 
rily, and  love  the  place  into  which  he  is  forced,  or  the 
power  that  compelled  him. 

Negroes  can  be  conquered  and  made  to  love  the 
power  that  holds  them;  it  is  congenial  with  their 
nature,  and  so  of  some  of  the  mixed  races.  But 
the  descendants  of  Shem  have  never  been  conquered 
into  an  affectionate  submission,  except  by  an  equal 
compromise  made  in  love,  and  by  claiming  them  as 
equal  in  every  particular.  So  if  we  want  our  Union 
restored,  it  must  be  done  by  peace  measures  offered 
in  love,  by  acknowledging  our  Southern  brethren  to 
be  our  equals,  and  giving  them  their  equal  rights  in 


304  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

all  the  territories  that  now  belongs  or  may  hereafter 
belong  to  the  United  States. 

The  time  was  when  the  extension  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  would  have  done, 
and  saved  us.  But  it  will  not  now,  I  fear.  If  we 
continue  to  shout,  no  compromise  with  traitors,  and 
determine  to  subjugate  them,  mark  my  words,  our 
die  is  cast,  and  our  doom  fixed.  Every  republican 
that  has  studied  the  history  of  the  questions  that 
now  divide  us,  knows  well  what  would  be  the  re- 
sult of  the  success  of  the  republican  party.  And 
when  they  persuaded  the  people  that  there  was  no 
danger  in  their  success,  they  knew  j»st  as  well  as 
the  devil  did  when  he  beguiled  Eve,  and  said  thou 
shalt  not  surely  die,  that  death  would  be  the  result. 
That  result  was  just  what  he  wanted,  and  the  eman- 
cipation of  all  the  slaves  is  just  what  certain  leaders 
of  the  republican  party  wanted,  and  still  want,  or 
there  would  be  no  trouble  in  settling  this  question. 
This  is  the  answer  to  my  question,  and  the  only  cor- 
rect answer  that  can  be  given. 

I  would  ask  my  Hicksite  friends,  what  they  ex- 
pect to  gain  by  the  emancipation  of  all  the  slaves  ? 
Have  you  ever  studied  the  human  nature  of  the 
Anglo-Americans?  Do  you  suppose  for  one  mo- 
ment, that  he  will  ever  be  put  on  an  equality  with" 
Africans,  or  allow  them  to  have  equal  rights  with 
the  wrhite'man?  If  you  do,  you  will  be  disap- 
pointed, for  that  day  will  never  come  ?  God  never 
intended  it  should  be  so,  and  you  never  knew  one, 
that  went  down  to  their  level,  that  did  not  fall  far 
below  them,  and  was  looked  upon  with  disgust  and 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  305 

contempt  by  all  good  citizens.  What  is  that  beauti- 
ful white  girl  thought  of  after  she  has  become  the 
wife  of  the  African  ?  Or  what  is  that  nice-looking 
and  polite,  chaste,  and  accomplished,  white  man 
thought  of  by  all  good  people,  who  has  chosen,  and 
taken  to  himself  a  black,  notty-headed  negro  woman 
for  a  wife  ?  Think  of  it ;  this  is  the  only  way  of  be- 
ing on  an  equality. 

You  say  the  white  people  of  the  South  have 
children  by  their  negro  women.  If  they  do,  they 
take  care  of  the  mother  and  offspring.  And  so  also 
do  the  white  men  of  the  North  have  children  by 
black  women,  in  much  larger  proportion  to  numbers 
than  what  is  done  in  the  South;  and  they  leave 
mother  and  child  to  starve,  or  live  upon  the  slops 
from  the  swill-tub  provided  for  the  hogs.  "We  don't 
deny  these  facts,  they  are  truths  that  stare  us  in  the 
face  daily.  I  would  ask  my  Hicksite  friends  in  what 
kind  of  esteem  they  hold  men  who  do  those  things. 
If  you  find  out  who  they  are,  are  they  not  loathsome 
to  your  very  soul  whenever  you  think  of  them,  and 
do  you  not  hate  and  shun  them  wherever  you  see 
them  ?  We  know  persons  of  strong  passions  and 
degraded  by  bad  company  and  intoxicating  drink, 
yield  to  such  passions  in  the  moment  of  temptation. 
But  ask  that  man,  if  he  is  willing  to  be  placed  on 
a  public  and  perpetual  equality  with  the  black  man, 
and  his  very  soul  will  revolt  within  him  at  the  in- 
sulting question,  while  he  will  answer  no. 

I  know  some  steps  have  been  taken  in  New  Eng- 
land towards  a  political  equality.  They  are  allowed 
to  vote  in  some  of  those  States,  and  in  New  York 
26* 


306  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

on  certain  contingencies.  That  has  been  done  for 
effect,  and  if  all  the  slaves  were  emancipated,  those 
liberties  would  be  abolished  in  less  than  three  years, 
and  an  animosity  and  prejudice  would  spring  up 
against  the  poor  negroes  that  would  be  more  terrible 
than  any  slavery  ever  known  on  this  earth.  A  large 
proportion  of  the  liberties  of  the  so-called  free  ne- 
groes of  the  free  States,  is  the  certain  result  of  a 
hatred  to  the  slaveholders  of  the  South.  Those 
liberties  are  given  in  some  of  the  free  States  to  try 
to  prejudice  the  slave  States,  and  to  set  the  slaves 
against  their  masters.  And  I  say  again  that  the 
only  safety  in  thts  country  for  the  negro  race,  is  to 
keep  them  in  slavery;  for  universal  emancipation 
will  bring  about  a  universal  sweeping  from  Ameri- 
can soil  the  entire  colored  race  in  some  way.  That 
will  go  hard  with  the  poor  negroes,  and  that  awful 
conflict  may  commence  where  abolitionism  did,  and 
among  those  who  have  been  the  strongest  opponents 
of  slavery,  will  be  found  the  first  who  will  move  to 
drive  them  out  of  the  country. 

I  have  many  friends  among  the  Hicksite  Quakers, 
and  I  hold  them  in  the  high  esteem,  for  when  I  was 
a  stranger  they  took  me  in,  and  gave  me  my  start 
in  the  world.  But,  alas  !  it  now  turns  out  too  much 
like  the  cow  that  gave  a  large  pail  of  milk,  and 
when  done,  she  up  foot  and  kicked  it  all  over.  So 
I  fear  my  friends  have,  by  their  conduct  towards  the 
South,  aided  largely  in  upsetting  the  pail  that  was 
so  nearly  filled.  The  Orthodox  Quakers  never  have 
voted  so  nearly  all  one  way  as  the  nicksites.  They 
were  mostly  Whigs  in  Mr.  Clay's  time ;  yet  they" 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  807 

were  somewhat  divided  between  the  two  great 
parties,  and  last  fall  a  great  many  of  them  voted  for 
John  Bell,  and  a  good  many  for  Judge  Douglas ; 
and  even  some  for  Mr.  Breckinridge,  and  others  for 
Mr.  Lincoln.  So  their  vote  was  not  a  sectional  one. 
They  are  true  to  their  country  as  a  people,  and 
they  do  not  make  abolitionism  their  religion.  They 
embrace  Christ  as  their  only  hope  of  salvation.  They 
were  charged  by  some  of  being  privy  to  the  John 
Brown  raid  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  they  made  the  following  declara- 
tions, which  will  show  that  I  have  not  misrepresented 
them.  I  cannot  but  admire  the  principles  set  forth 
in  the  declarations,  however  much  I  may  differ  with 
them  on  a  few  points ;  but  they  nowhere  call  the 
masters  thieves,  murderers,  and  robbers,  simply 
because  they  are  slave-holders ;  but  friends,  in  an 
humble,  affectionate,  and  Christian-like  manner. 
Which,  if  all  other  anti-slavery  men  had  done  like- 
wise, our  national  peace  would  flow  this  day  like 
a  river,  and  our  Union  and  prosperity  would  be 
limited  only  by  the  bounds  of  our  country.  By  the 
bounds  of  our  country  did  I  say  ?  I  should  have 
said  unparalleled  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  See  the 
declaration  of  the  Foxites,  who  are  the  Orthodox 
Quakers : — 

"At  a  Meeting  of  tlie  Representatives  of  the  Religious  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  in  Pennsylvania,  New-Jersey,  Delaware, 
Sfc.,  held  in  Philadelphia,  Third  Month  16th,  1860  :— 

"  Several  articles  have  appeared  in  the  public  Journals 

within  a  few  months  past — some  in  the  form  of  Letters,  dated 

•  and  written  in  the  plain  style  used  by  Friends ; — and  others  as 


308  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

proceedings  of  Meetings  in  which  persons  designated  as 
Friends  took  part ; — which  articles  seem  to  sanction  the  use 
of  force  to  free  the  Slaves,  and  also  to  connive  at  efforts  to 
subvert  the  government ;  and  as  those  who  are  unacquainted 
with  our  principles  and  practices  may  be  thereby  led  to  im- 
plicate the  Society  in  such  views  and  proceedings,  we  believe 
it  right,  on  behalf  of  those  we  represent,  to  disclaim  any 
unity  therewith,  and  to  repel  an  imputation  so  unjust  and 
injurious  to  the  religion  Friends  have  always  professed. 

"  In  compliance  with  the  precepts  of  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  which  breathe  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men, 
and  command  us  to  love  our  enemies,  and  to  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  us  and  persecute  us ;  our  religious  Society  has  stead- 
fastly maintained  a  testimony  against  all  wars  and  fightings, 
tumults,  violence,  and  shedding  of  blood,  and  against  forcible 
resistance  to  oppression,  whether  inflicted  with  or  without  color 
of  law;  and  has  believed  it  to  be  a  duty  to  live  peaceably  under 
the  authorities  placed  over  us — to  obey  the  laws  of  our  country 
where  they  do  not  infringe  on  our  religious  principles ;  and 
where  they  do,  passively  and  patiently  to  endure  the  penalties 
inflicted  on  us. 

"The  Society  of  Friends  has  long  borne  a  decided  testi- 
mony against  holding  our  fellow  men  in  bondage,  as  being 
incompatible  with  the  benign  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and  con- 
trary to  the  commands  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  Matt.  vii. 
12 ;  John  xiii.  34,  35 ;  xv.  12,  17,  &c. ;  and  those  members 
who  once  held  slaves,  long  since  set  them  free,  and  in  many 
instances  remunerated  them  for  their  labor  while  in  bondage. 
This  testimony  is  as  dear  to  us  now  as  ever ;  and  we  feel 
religiously  bound  to  uphold  it  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  and 
in  that  Christian  love  which  craves  the  welfare  of  both  mas- 
ter and  slave. 

"  While  convinced  of  the  injustice  and  wrongs  attendant  on 
the  system  of  Slavery,  we  cannot  approve  of,  or  sympathize 
with,  any  forcible  or  violent  measures  to  obtain  the  liberty,  or 
to  redress  the  grievances  of  the  Slaves  ;  but  have  counselled 
them  to  endeavor  to  serve  with  patience  and  fidelity  while  in 
bondage,  to  fulfil  their  Christian  duties  with  propriety,  and  to 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  309 

commit  their  cause  into  the  hands  of  a  merciful  and  omnipo- 
tent Father  in  heaven. 

"  "Whatever  any  persons,  unjustly  assuming  the  name  or  the 
appearance  of  Friends,  may  have  said  or  done,  which  is  incon- 
sistent with  these  principles,  is  contrary  to  the  faith  and  the 
practice  of  the  religious  Society  of  Friends,  and  cannot  justly 
be  charged  upon  it. 

"  Signed  on  behalf  and  by  direction  of  the  meeting  aforesaid. 
JOSEPH   SNOWDON,  Clerk." 

I  disagree  with  my  Orthodox  friend  on  the  moral 
question  of  slavery  in  the  abstract.  That  difference 
is  caused  simply  by  their  confounding  spiritual 
precepts  and  examples  with  temporal,  though  I  do 
not  know  that  they  declare  slavery  to  be  a  moral 
evil,  but  they  strongly  intimate  the  doctrine.  The 
introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  world  was  not 
intended  to  change  a  man's  temporal  condition  in 
the  world,  but  his  spiritual  condition  only ;  so  far  as 
he  would  be  improved  by  becoming  a  true  Christian, 
he  would  be  entitled  to  all  the  benefits  thereof,  by 
his  increased  worth.  If  he  should  continue  to  love 
and  fear  God,  he  would  rise  higher  and  higher  in 
the  scale  of  confidence,  love,  and  respect ;  whatever 
his  condition  or  situation  might  be  in  life.  What  is 
the  greatest  boon  or  blessing  of  this  life  ?  Is  it  not  to 
have  the  confidence  of  all  that  know  us,  especially 
those  who  are  concerned  in  us  ?  What  will  drive  a 
good  man,  or  even  a  bad  man  to  distraction  sooner 
than  to  be  sensible  of  having  lost  the  confidence  of  his 
neighbors  and  friends,  and  especially  those  who  have 
an  interest  in  them?  Righteousness  is  the  only 
staff  of  pleasure,  if  it  is  unadulterated  and  constant, 
so  that  it  becomes  patent  to  all  that  know  us. 


310  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

The  good  slaves  are  the  happiest  people  I  have 
ever  seen.  They  have  privations,  and  great  priva- 
tions, it  is  true.  And  we  have  our  privations.  Theirs 
are  singular,  while  ours  are  plural.  While  they  are 
deprived  of  the  liberty  of  working  for  whoever 
they  please,  they  have  no  other  concern  in  this 
world,  but  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  Their  bread, 
meat,  drink,  and  homes  are  provided  for  them  ;  they 
are  not  troubled  about  the  future  of  this  life  in  any 
way  whatever.  While  we  are  far  greater  slaves 
than  they.  We  are  equally  deprived  of  such  liber- 
ties as  we  desire  ;  and  what  is  our  concern  about  the 
future?  How  many  white  people  are*  driven  to 
distraction,  and  thrown  into  consternation  at  this 
time  ?  Is  it  the  case  with  the  slaves,  except  those  on 
or  near  the  battle-ground?  What  are  the  pains  and 
aches  of  the  entire  white  population  of  the  United 
States  at  this  time,  while  the  slaves  of  the  South 
are  fully  provided  for,  and  they  feel  no  concern 
whatever,  but  to  take  care  of  their  masters'  property, 
and  to  prepare  for  heaven  ?  What  is  the  painful 
concern  and  solicitude  of  at  least  twelve  millions  of 
the  white  people  of  the  free  States,  at  all  times,  who 
are  dependent  on  their  daily  labor  for  bread,  and  a 
home  for  themselves,  their  wives,  and  little  ones. 
They  are  dependent  upon  their  employers,  and  they 
know  if  thrown  out  of  employment  their  families 
must  suffer,  for  they  have  had  to  stint  themselves 
and  families  in  the  necessaries  of  life,  all  the  way 
through,  to  make  their  inadequate  earnings  keep 
•them  along.  So  if  they  lose  their  situations,  they 
are  thrown  upon  the  cold  charities  of  the  world. 


AFltlCAN  SLAVEKY.  311 

Compared  to  this,  the  slavery  of  the  South  is  a  bliss, 
it  is  a  heaven  and  glory. 

If  our  Saviour  had  fixed  a  temporal  standard,  or 
condition  in  this  life  for  us  to  arrive  to  before  we 
could  embrace  Christ  as  our  Saviour,  how  many 
millions  would  be  debarred,  and  sink  into .  ever- 
lasting despair  ?  But,  blessed  be  his  name,  that  is 
not  the  case.  He  is  just  suited  to  every  man's  case 
and  condition  in  this  life ;  and  it  is  not  required 
that  any  man  should  change  his  temporal  relations 
in  life,  provided  they  are  lawful. 

We  have  an  account  of  slavery  since  2348  years 
before  Christ,  and  slaves  were  the  rightful  property 
of  their  masters  from  that  time  until  nearly  100 
years  after  his  ascension,  and  the  entire  Old  and 
New  Testament  Scriptures  were  written  after  its 
introduction,  and  most  of  the  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets were  slave  owners.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  not 
one  single  word  was  uttered  against  it  in  the  whole 
book  of  God.  Slavery  still  existed  extensively  in 
the  time  of  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  and  yet 
no  one  of  the  writers  gives  the  slightest  intima- 
tion that  it  was  a  moral  evil.  That  book  being  the 
only  moral  guide  ever  given,  and  slavery  being  one 
of  the  fruits  of  the  fall,  or  consequences  of  sin  having 
entered  into  the  world,  therefore  it  is  no  more 
sin  in  itself  than  all  other  afflictions  poor  sinful 
men  are  subjected  to  in  this  world. 

I  will  now  close  up  with  my  Orthodox  brethren, 
by  telling  a  little  story  to  illustrate  their  usual  plan 
of  interfering  with  slavery : — 

Worner   Miflin  was    an   influential    member    of 


312  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Friends'  meeting,  and  a  man  of  talent  and  great 
moral  courage,  and  a  large  amount  of  philanthropy. 
He  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  get  a  master  to  set 
Joe,  a  slave,  free.  His  frequent  conversations  and 
intercessions  on  behalf  of  Joe  became  annoying  to 
his  master ;  therefore  he  said  to  Worner  one  morn- 
ing, that  he  was  welcome  at  all  times  at  his  house 
whenever  he  visited  Virginia ;  but  I  say  now,  you 
must  never  speak  to  me  again  about  the  emancipa- 
tion of  Joe,  for  that  he  should  not  do.  Worner  told 
the  slaveholder  he  certainly  would  not,  if  it  was 
unpleasant  to  him.  But  requested  of  the  master  to 
allow  him  to  hold  a  conversation  with  Joe,  and  he 
would  never  mention  the  subject  again.  The  mas- 
ter consented,  and  told  him  where  he  could  see  Joe 
at  a  certain  hour.  The  master  concealed  himself 
near  the  spot,  and  "Worner  Miflen  made  his  appear- 
ance, and  said  to  Joe :  I  have  seen  thy  master  time 
after  time  to  try  to  obtain  thy  freedom ;  I  have  done 
all  in  my  power,  but  thy  master  cannot  spare  thee. 
I  have  called  on  thee  to  say,  thy  master  is  a  very 
good  man,  and  thee  must  be  a  faithful  servant  until 
the  day  of  thy  death.  Love  thy  master,  and  obey 
him  in  all  things ;  be  not  slack  in  thy  duty  to  thy 
master  at  any  time.  And  above  all,  never  leave 
him  without  his  consent,  and  let  his  will  be  thy  will 
through  life,  and  thou  shalt  have  thy  reward  in 
heaven.  Worner  bid  Joe  farewell  and  left  him. 

At  the  dinner-table  next  day,  the  master  said  to 

Worner  that  he  had  heard  all  his  conversation  the 

'  day  before  with  Joe,  and  I  expected  thee  was  going 

to  persuade  Joe  to  run  away,  but  thy  honor  has  so 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  313 

affected  me,  that  I  say  to  thee  now,  that  Joe  is  a  free 
man  from  this  hour. 

This  is  a  complete  illustration  of  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  the  Orthodox  Friends — this  is  now  their 
true  character.  Therefore,  I  say,  if  they  had  been 
the  ruling  power  of  the  free  States,  we  should  now 
be  in  no  trouble  with  our  southern  brethren.  I 
have  endeavored  to  give  an  outline  of  the  true  char- 
acter of  the  true  Quakers,  and  if  I  have  in  any  way 
erred,  they  must  pardon  me,  for  I  have  aimed  at 
right. 


27 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Do  as  you  would  be  done  by. 

"  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  th» 
prophets." — MATT.  vii.  12. 

I  DON'T  know  that  I  ever  had  a  controversy  with 
an  abolitionist  on  the  moral  question  of  slavery  who 
did  not  quote  the  above  text  to  condemn  it,  and  to 
prove  that  the  institution  of  American  slavery  should 
be  abolished  at  once  by  church  and  state,  because 
(say  they),  " We,  the  people"  feel  that  we  would  not 
like  to  be  slaves  to  the  African  race ;  and  also  to 
prove  that  if  we  refuse  to  give  our  influence  for 
negro  emancipation,  we  sin  against  both  heaven  and 
earth.  They  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  that  negro 
slavery  is  a  great  moral  evil  under  all  circumstances, 
and  no  power  of  heaven  or  earth  can  make  it  other- 
wise, and  think  this  precept  is  entirely  one-sided  in 
its  bearing  (or  say  so  at  least),  forgetting  that  the 
slaveholders  are  partners  in  the  great  contest 
between  the  North  and  South  of  this  country,  and 
in  the  precept  of  our  Lord  above  quoted.  They  for- 
get that  the  slaveholder  has  a  right  to  this  text  to 
shelter  himself  from  the  barbed  arrows  of  abolition- 
ists. For  the  slaveholders  say,  if  the  abolitionists 
(  314) 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  315 

would  only  obey  this  glorious  precept,  they  would 
have  peace  and  rest  in  all  their  borders.  The  abo- 
litionists seem  to  think  that  this  great  moral  precept 
was  given  exclusively  for  the  benefit  of  the  free 
States  and  negroes,  and  that  "  We,  the  people,"  have 
no  protection  under  its  beneficent  hand  from  impo- 
sition and  slander.  Yet,  if  abolitionists  could  only 
be  prevailed  upon  to  obey  this  the  best  of  all 
precepts,  we  should  now  have  peace  and  harmony 
throughout  this  whole  nation,  instead  of  being  on 
the  verge  of  ruin  by  a  most  bloody  civil  contest. 
It  would  bring  us  to  the  very  threshold  of  the  great 
Millennium  sjfbken  of  by  Christ. 

This  text  is  in  the  words  of  our  Lord  himself,  and 
no  man  can  be  his  true  follower  and  disobey  it.  If 
the  abolitionists  do  not  disobey  it  in  all  its  require- 
ments, no  person  on  this  earth  does. 

Suppose  an  abolitionist  had  a  relative  in  Alabama, 
owning  two  hundred  slaves,  who  should  die,  leaving 
all  of  his  servants  to  his  only  heir,  an  abolitionist  in 
Boston,  what  would  you  have  the  abolition  heir  to 
do,  who  should  happen  to  be  a  very  poor  man? 
Your  answer  would  be,  free  them  or  have  nothing 
to  do  with  them.  Now,  you  know  the  laws  of  the 
South  are  such  that  the  slaves  must  have  a  master 
to  take  care  of  them  or  to  set  them  free,  for  none 
but  a  legal  owner  could  free  them,  and  without  a 
legal  claimant  they  would  all  be  sold  by  the  sheriff, 
to  the  highest  bidders,  which  would  scatter  them  to 
the  four  winds.  Then,  you  say,  let  him  go  and  take 
charge  of  them  and  free  them.  But  you  know  the 
law  does  not  allow  them  to  be  freed  and  left  there. 


316  AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

Therefore  you  would  be  compelled,  in  order  to  free 
them,  to  take  them  to  a  free  State.  And  if  you 
should  send  them  to  a  free  State  without  equipping 
them  suitably  for  the  journey,  and  give  them  some- 
thing to  subsist  upon  until  they  could  procure  a 
livelihood,  you  would  not  be  doing  for  them  as  you 
would  be  done  by.  And  if  you  should  conclude  to 
send  them  to  free  States,  it  would  cost  you  at  least 
one  hundred  dollars  each — that  would  amount  to 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  Suppose  this  amount 
should  be  raised  to  bring  them  awa}r,  and  when  you 
commence  operations  you  should  find  at  least  two 
hundred  more  belonging  to  other  men,  who  were 
wives,  husbands,  children,  parents,  brothers,  and  sis- 
ters of  your  two  hundred  slaves,  what  would  you  do 
then  ?  To  separate  man  and  wife,  and  parents  and 
children,  would  not  be  doing  as  you  would  be  done 
by.  To  purchase  them  would  be  dealing  in  human 
blood,  and  if  you  should  get  over  that  point,  it  would 
take  perhaps  at  least  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
to  purchase  them.  Suppose  that  amount  could  be 
raised,  and  you  should  find  that  their  masters  would 
not  sell  them,  then  would  you  separate  man  and  wife 
by  bringing  yours  to  a  free  State  ?  You  know  that 
this  is  one  of  3rour  great  objections  to  slavery ;  there- 
fore, you  could  not  do  that,  and  "do  as  you  would  be 
done  by."  If  you  should  resolve  to  have  nothing  to 
do  with  them,  then  all  of  them  would  be  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder.  Parents  and  children,  husbands  and 
wives,  would  be  separated  never  to  see  each  other 
again.  Let  this  abolitionist  heir  suppose  himself  to 
be  a  slave,  and  the  husband  of  one  of  his  women, 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  317 

who  belongs  to  another  owner,  would  he  not  have 
his  master  to  purchase  him,  that  he  might  go  with 
his  loved  wife? 

Now  you  must  bear  in  mind  that  a  negro  hus- 
band, wife,  child,  or  parent  has  the  same  protection 
under  this  glorious  precept  of  our  Lord,  that  the 
white  abolitionist  has.  And  no  man  has  a  right  to 
claim  what  would  infringe  upon  the  moral  or  civil 
rights  of  others  unde*  this  righteous  law :  "  To  do 
to  others  all  things  whatsoever  you  would  have  them 
to  do  to  you."  No  man  can  be  a  Christian  and 
disobey  this  counsellor,  and  an  authorized  Christian 
minister  who  "does  not  respect  this  law,  is  simply  a 
moral  devil. 

Suppose  a  murderer  was  arraigned  before  the 
court  for  sentence,  and  the  criminal  should  say  to 
the  court :  If  your  honor  was  in  my  place,  and  I  in 
yours,  I  know  you  would  have  me  to  discharge 
you,  and  allow  you  to  go  out  free,  therefore  you 
must  do  as  you  would  be  done  by,  and  discharge 
me  from  custody,  or  you  will  be  a  criminal  before 
God,  and  suffer  eternal  wrath  for  your  disobedience 
in  this  glorious  precept  of  his.  This  has  just  as 
much  reason  in  it,  as  applying  the  precepts  to  the 
civil  relation  of  master  and  slave.  All  that  is 
taught  by  this  counsel  of  Christ  is,  that  the  master 
should  treat  his  slaves  just  as  he  would  have  them 
to  treat  him  if  circumstances  were  reversed,  and  he, 
a  negro  slave  to  one  of  them.  Of  course  he  would 
have  his  master  to  treat  him  the  very  best  that 
could  be  under  all  the  circumstances.  So  the  mas- 
27* 


318  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

ters  are  all  morally  bound  to  treat  their  slaves  the 
very  best  that  all  the  circumstances  would  allow,  by 
giving  them  good  wholesome  food-  sufficient  for 
their  real  wants,  with  comfortable  clothing,  and 
never  to  put  on  them  more  than  they  can  bear  with- 
out injury,  and  not  to  injure  them  in  any  way  what- 
ever. When  he  has  done  this,  he  has  fulfilled  this 
law  so  far  as  the  law  of  master  and  slaves  is  con- 
cerned. If  the  master  does  no^do  this  he  will  be  held 
to  a  fearful  responsibility,  and  he  will  have  to  render 
a  fearful  account  in  that  great  day  of  God.  The  re- 
lations of  men  are  not  to  be  changed  to  fulfil  this 
divine  precept. 

This  text  is  applicable  to  every  transaction  of 
this  life,  and  no  man  is  required  by  it  to  give  away  all 
of  his  property.  But  if  we  go  out  to  sell  a  horse,  we 
must  not  try  to  make  the  purchaser  believe  what  we 
know  is  not  the  truth,  in  order  to  get  more  than  the 
value.  "  We  must  do  as  we  would  be  done  by,"  if 
we  were  purchasing.  The  abolitionists  are  bound  by 
the  same  precepts  ;  that  is,  to  do  to  the  slave-owner 
just  as  they  would  be  done  by  if  they  were  owners 
of  slaves.  And  he  is  bound  to  place  himself,  by 
supposition,  in  a  slave  State  with  a  large  number  of 
slaves,  for  whose  maintenance  he  is  responsible,  and 
there  ask  himself  the  question,  how  would  he  have 
men  to  treat  him  as  a  slave-holder.  If  he  can  make 
up  his  mind  that  he  would  like  to  be  called  a  tyrant, 
thief,  robber,  and  murderer,  simply  because  he  is  a 
slave  owner,  then  he,  as  an  abolitionist,  has  a  right 
to  say  hard  things  of  the  slave  owner.  He  must 
do  as  he  would  be  done  by  if  circumstances  were 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  319 

reversed ;  and  if  he  does  not  do  as  he  would  be  done 
by,  he  will  be  held  to  a  fearful  account. 

A  slave  is  bound  by  the  same  rule  to  do  justice 
to  his  master  in  all  things,  just  as  he  would  have  a 
slave  to  do  to  him  if  he  had  one,  and  if  he  does 
not  render  faithful  service  to  his  master,  he  will  be 
held  by  the  moral  law  as  a  thief  and  robber. 

He  who  persuades  or. steals  a  slave  away  from  his 
master,  simply  to  get  him  away,  has  committed  a 
crime,  for  which  there  is  no  punishment  adequate. 
He  does  not  only  steal  a  man  from  his  legal  owner, 
but  he  runs  him  into  a  climate  that  is  not  congenial 
to  his  nature,  and  leaves  him  there  to  starve  and  die. 
Therefore,  he  is  not  only  a  man-stealer,  but  a  tyrant 
and  murderer. 

It  seems  clear  to  my  mind  that  if  this  precept  of 
our  Lord  was  understood  by  the  whole  Christian 
church  as  the  abolitionists  pretend  to  understand 
it,  it  would  be  fatal  to  almost  every  business  in- 
terest on  the  earth,  it  would  encourage  all  kinds 
of  villainy  and  wrong,  punish  the  innocent  and  let 
the  guilty  go  free.  It  is  a  moral  precept  in  which 
we  cannot  always  judge  another.  Every  man  must 
be  his  own  judge,  and  if  every  man  was  religi- 
ously honest,  no  man  would  then  desire  another 
to  do  for  him  what  he  would  not  do  for  another 
under  the  same  circumstances.  The  abolitionists 
require  the  masters  to  do  for  their  slaves  what  they 
(the  abolitionists)  would  not  do,  were  they  placed 
under  the  same  circumstances.  And  they  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  require  the  master  to  do 
for  the  slave  what  the  slave  feels  in  his  own  heart 


320  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

he  would  not  do  for  his  master  were  circumstances 
reversed  between  him  and  his  master. 

The  abolitionists  have  introduced  a  new  code  of 
morals,  as  unscriptural  as  that  of  Joe  Smith,  or  the 
Spiritualists,  and  more  productive  of  evil  than  the 
doctrines  of  the  Mormons  and  Spiritualists.  They 
are  so  palpably  wrong  that  they  do  away  with 
the  code  given  by  our  Saviour  and  the  apostles,  and 
say  its  day  has  passed,  therefore  it  does  not  aifect 
society  in  general,  and  perhaps  has  been  in  some 
degree  a  benefit,  because  it  calls  out  the  morbid,  the 
vicious,  the  licentious,  the  weak,  misguided,  and  the 
fanatical,  and  in  this  way  society  is  succored  and 
purified  by  those  doctrines  of  the  devil.  But  the 
abolitionists  remain  in  good  society  and  try  to  in- 
still their  new  code  of  morals  into  the  minds  of  the 
pure,  the  virtuous,  the  unlearned  in  Scripture,  and 
the  unsuspecting  and  most  pious,  zealous  portions 
of  both  church  and  state.  They  work  with  a  zeal 
that  is  calculated  to  deceive.  The  manner  of  their 
proceeding  is  to  agitate  society  by  the  question  of 
slavery.  They  tell  them  of  its  great  moral  evil, 
that  the  slaveholders  are  murderers,  robbers,  and 
thieves,  of  the  worst  kind. 

On  the  morning  preceding  the  evening  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hall  in  this  city  was  burnt,  I  heard  an  abo- 
lition lecturer,  by  the  name  of  "Wright,  tell  a  gentle- 
man from  Baltimore  that  Gen.  Washington  was  a 
thief,  robber,  and  murderer,  simply  because  he 
(Washington)  was  a  slaveholder.  This  doctrine  is 
universally  taught  by  abolitionists  of  the  Garrison 
school,  and  their  object  is  to  throw  firebrands  into 


AFKICAN   SLAVED.  321 


society,  and  to  prejudice  the  North  against  the  South, 
and  the  South  against  the  North.  They  are  guilty 
of  treason,  murder,  and  theft.  Of  treason,  by  dis- 
obedience to  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  by 
resisting  the  same  with  violence  and  deadly  weapons. 
and  of  murder  and  theft  by  persuading  the  slaves  to 
run  away,  "  and  if  their  masters  pursue  them  and 
attempt  to  arrest  them,  to  kill  them  just  as  they 
would  a  dog,  and  to  steal  their  master's  horses  and 
money,  if  they  can  get  it,  and  make  their  escape." 
But  the  most  glaring  part  of  the  theft  is,  stealing 
slaves  from  masters.  I  know  men  who  do  this  thing 
and  boast  of  the  success  they  have  had  ;  and  men 
who  profess  to  be  followers  of  our  Lord.  One  told 
me,  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon,  at  his  Sabbath  school, 
that  he  had  had  as  high  as  seventeen  runaway  slaves 
(run  off  from  their  masters  by  means  of  the  under- 
ground railroad)  hid  in  his  garret  at  one  time,  all  of 
whom  they  passed  on  to  Canada  on  the  railroad. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this  crime  ought  to  be 
made  next,  if  not  equal,  to  the  highest  crime  known 
to  our  criminal  code.  To  say  the  best  of  it,  it  is  as 
bad  as  murder  in  the  first  degree.  When  a  man 
premeditates  a  murder,  he  is  likely  to  make  up  his 
mind  to  do  it  in  the  most  expeditious  way,  that  will 
prove  safest  to  himself;  therefore,  does  not  torture 
his  victim  any  more  than  he  can  help.  But  the 
underground  railroad  man  does  'it  in  a  more  cruel 
manner.  He  first  decoys  his  victim  from  his  home, 
.and  does  it  by  flattering  words  of  freedom;  he  tells 
him  of  the  cruelty  of  slavery  —  of  its  enormous  wick- 
edness —  the  hardships  he.  has  to  undergo,  and  when 


322  AFK1CAN  SLAVERY. 

he  is  old  and  past  labor,  will  be  killed  and  thrown 
out.  On  the  other  hand,  of  the  glories  of  the  free 
States  and  of  freedom ;  the  happiness  they  will  have, 
and  of  the  rich  fruits  and  abundant  harvest  of  the 
free  States ;  of  political  and  social  freedom ;  that  he 
will  be  on  an  equality  with  his  neighbors,  and  that 
the  further  he  goes  north,  the  better  his  condition 
will  be — the  greatest  friendship  and  affection  is 
shown  to  him.  So  the  poor  ignorant  slave  is  com- 
pletely deluded,  and  at  once  becomes  dissatisfied 
with  his  condition,  and  anxious  to  be  free. 

I  will  here  insert  a  report  of  an  abolition  meet- 
ing held  in  Boston  the  other  day,  and  the  wonderful 
exploits  of  a  female  conductor  on  the  underground 
railroad.  I  have  no  doubt  she  was  induced  to  think 
she  was  doing  God's  service  by  this  cruel  act.  See 
as  follows : — 

"  A  FEMALE  CONDUCTOR  OP  THE  UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD. — 
At  the  late  Woman's  Rights  Convention,  at  Melodeon  Hall, 
Boston,  the  most  interesting  incident  was  the  appearance  on 
the  platform  of  the  colored  woman,  Mrs.  Harriet  Tupmafl,  who 
has  been  eight  times  South,  and  brought  into  freedom  no  less 
than  forty  persons,  including  her  aged  father  and  mother,  over 
seventy  years  old.  She  had  a  prolonged  and  enthusiastic 
reception." 

The  most  noted  point  in  this  act  of  horror  was 
the  bringing  away  from  ease  and  comfortable  homes 
two  old  slaves  over  seventy  years  of  age.  Now 
there  are  no  old  people  of  any  color  more  caressed 
and  better  taken  care  of  than  the  old  worn-out 
slaves  of  the  South,  except  the  wealthy  whites,  who 
are  few  in  number.  A  much  larger  proportion  of 
the  Southern  slaves  live  to  very  old  ages  than  do 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  823 

the  colored  people  of  the  North,  or  free  States.  Why 
is  it  so  ?  1.  Because  they  have  regular  employ- 
ment or  labor ;  2.  they  have  regular  .food ;  3.  they 
have  but  few,  or  no  hardships,  and  are  never  over- 
worked ;  4.  they  are  not  dissipated,  nor  half  so 
filthy  in  their  living;  5.  -They  are  more  cheerful 
and"  happy,  and  the  climate  is  more  congenial  to 
their  nature.  The  nature  of  the  negro  never  was 
intended  for  the  cold  climates  of  America. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  colored  people  of  what  is 
called  the  free  States  seldom  have  regular  employ- 
ment ;  if  they  could  have,  they  would  not.  They  are 
exceedingly  irregular  in  their  food,  and  generally 
have  that  which  is  unsuited  to  health,  being  mostly 
.refuse.  They  are  very  dissipated  and  filthy,  and 
have  little  or  almost  no  employment ;  and  would 
not  confine  themselves  to  constant  employment  if 
they  could  get  it.  Those  old  slaves  had  earned 
their  living  while  young,  and  a  home  for  themselves 
when  past  labor,  and  had  sat  down  at  ease  around 
the  plentiful  board  of  their  master,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  support  them  through  old  age,  and  see  them 
well  taken  care  of  in  sickness,  and  when  dead  to 
give  them  a  respectable  burying.  This  ignorant 
woman  must  have  been  persuaded  and  bewildered 
by  flattery  from  some  fiendish  source,  or  she  cer- 
tainly would  not  have  been  guilty  of  such  a  diaboli- 
cal act  of  wickedness  and  cruelty  to  her  parents, 
who  had  a  fortune  laid  up  for  old  age,  and  had 
come  to  the  time  when  labor  had  ceased  to  be  re- 
quired at  their  hands,  and  were  entitled  to  a  peace- 
ful home  with  him  whom  they  had  served  so  many 


324  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

years,  and  where  the  laws  of  the  State  compelled 
him  to  give  them  that  support  righteously  due  them 
the  balance  of  their  days,  and  where  they  had  friends 
to  comfort  and  console  them  in  declining  life. 

Can  it  be  possible  that  so  large  an  audience  of 
white  people  can  be  found  in  so  high  a  civilized 
community,  professing  so  much  love  for  the  poor 
slaves,  who  could  applaud  such  an  act  of  wicked- 
ness and  cruelty  in  a  child  to  her  parents,  as  this 
certainly  was ;  and  a  thousand  times  worse  than  to 
steal  young  ones  away !  I  admit  it  to  be  a  great 
act  of  kindness  to  the  master,  or  the  estate  that  had 
them  to  support ;  and  perhaps  was  a  saving  of  some 
two  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  him  or  his  estate. 
The  notice  does  not  say  where  she  took  them  to;, 
but  we  suppose  as  far  north  as  she  could  get  them, 
and  altogether  likely  into  Canada,  where  they 
have  nearly  six  months  of  severe  winter  out  of  the 
twelve.  I  cannot  conceive  of  a  more  wicked  act 
towards  parents.  Confinement  in  the  penitentiary 
for  life  would  be  "  inadequate"  to  her  crime,  for 
stealing  her  old  parents  away  from  a  good  home 
and  friends,  and  a  living  already  laid  up  sufficient 
for  all  their  wants;  and  from  a  warm  climate 
altogether  congenial  to  their  nature,  to  a  very  cold 
one,  and  where  there  is  nothing  to  depend  on  but 
their  labor.  And  in  a  climate  where  the  thermome- 
ter is  in  the  neighborhood  of  zero  four  months  out 
of  twelve,  and  no  master's  wood-pile  to  go  to ;  and 
no  rich  white  man  or  woman  to  call  them  "Uncle 
Tom,  and  Aunt  Lotta,"  whose  fortune  was  protected 
by  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  they  had  labored 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  325 

for  their  support.  Yet  an  audience  of  white  people 
professing  love  to  the  slaves,  could  applaud  a  being 
in  human  shape,  for  so  cruel  an  act. 

I  have  been  in  Boston  many  times,  and  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year,  and  most  people  I  have  talked 
with  seemed  to  be  Christians  of  some  sort,  and  men 
and  women  of  very  large  philanthropy,  and  yet 
how  in  that  city  of  education  and  refinement  such  an 
audience  can  be  culled  out  is  more  than  I  can  tell, 
unless  the  underground  railroad  passes  through 
Apollyon's  Kingdom,  for  certainly  they  cannot  be 
altogether  human,  or  such  ex«ltation  could  not  be 
had  over  such  wickedness  in  June,  1860. 

In  the  winters  of  1851, 52, 53, 1  was  in  Boston,  and 
could  hardly  go  into  a  store  or  hotel  without  meeting 
some  one  with  a  subscription  book  that  seemed  to 
beg  every  one  they  met  to  subscribe  some  amount, 
to  save  the  fugitive  slaves  in  Canada  from  freezing 
or  starving  to  death,  and  their  stories  of  horror 
were  enough  to  move  the  hardest  heart ;  and  now, 
in  June,  1860,  those  devils  incarnate  could  clap  their 
glad  hands  and  shout  over  the  report  of  two  old 
slaves,  over  seventy  years  of  age,  having  been  stolen 
and  abducted  from  good  homes  in  a  southern  climate, 
and  brought  to  and  turned  loose  in  the  frigid  zones  of 
the  north,  to  freeze  to  death  or  starve  with  hunger. 
If  the  devil  is  any  worse  than  that  puritanic  audience 
who  assembles  to  hear  the  report  of  this  wretched 
hard-hearted  negro  woman,  I  am  sure  it  is  a 
sufficient  reason  why  I  should  strive  to  avoid  his 
kingdom. 

I  will  ask  those  Puritans  if  that  was  in  keeping 
28 


326  AFBICAN  SLAVERY. 

with  the  golden  rule  of  our  Saviour,  quoted  at  the 
head  of  this  chapter,  or  which  were  the  greatest  sin- 
ners, this  negro  woman  and  the  Boston  audience,  or 
the  master  of  those  two  old  slaves  ?  Eead  the 
former  chapters,  in  which  I  have  fully  set  forth  the 
moral  questions  of  slavery,  and  tKen  decide  the  above 
question. 

"Who  would  have  supposed  the  descendants  of  the 
Puritans  who  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  in  1620, 
and  who  had  been  driven  from  their  native  land  by 
infidel  tyrants,  because  they  determined  to  worship 
God  according  to  the*dictates  of  their  own  conscience 
could  have  so  fallen.  It  was  thought  to  be  a  happy 
day  when  the  Mayflower,  with  over  one  hundred  of 
those  Puritan  saints,  arrived  at  Plymouth  Rock  with 
open  Bibles;  but  their  descendants,  like  the  good 
cow  after  she  had  given  a  large  pail  of  rich  milk, 
up  foot,  and  kicked  it  over.  Just  so  did  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Puritan  saints,  for  it  was  soon 
discovered  that  they  had  imbibed  so  much  of  the 
tyrannical  spirits  of  their  fathers  who  had  driven 
them  from  their  native  land  to  our  shores  for  shelter; 
consequently  they  turned  tyrants,  and  persecuted 
the  Quakers  of  New  England  even  unto  death,  be- 
cause they  desired  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  which  differed  in* 
mode  only  from  that  of  their  Puritan  brethren. 
This  conduct  of  the  descendants  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Plymouth  Rock  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  every  in- 
telligent  Christian,  that  they  had  totally  backslidden 
from  that  true  Christianity  that  sustained 
under  similar  trials  in  their  native  land. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  327 

Yet  from  the  landing  of  those  pilgrim  fathers  we 
date  the  birth  of  true  Christianity  in  this  country. 
But  their  sudden  transition  from  infidel  bondage  to 
Christian  freedom  was  too  much  for  them,  and  they 
consequently  overleaped  the  limits  of  religious 
liberty  and  soon  became  religious  despots,  and 
advocated  the  passage  of  such  laws  as  would  punish 
a  man  for  kissing  his  wife  on  the  Sabbath  day,  or 
expel  him  from  church  for  happening  to  smile  in 
church.  And  it  was  said  they  built  their  hen- 
houses so  as  to  exclude  the  entire  light  of  the  sun, 
the  brightest  days,  when  the  door  was  closed,  and 
that  they  closed  that  door  each  Saturday  night,  and 
kept  it  closed  until  after  twelve  o'clock  Sunday 
night,  for  fear  lest  the  cocks  would  break  the  Sab- 
bath by  crowing,  or  the  scratching  of  the  hens  for 
their  little  ones  would  cause  anger  in  heaven. 
Therefore  it  was  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  in  the 
summer  of  1860,  that  their  posterity  should  all 
assemble  at  Melodeon  Hall,  in  the  city  of  Boston,  to 
worship  the  goddess  of  liberty  in  the  shape  of  a  poor 
deluded  negro  woman.  And  sing  and  shout  with 
the  loudest  acclamations  of  glory  and  honor  to  her 
for  the  performance  of  as  cruel  an  act  as  ever  was 
performed  by  a  child  towards  parents. 

Did  those  religious  fanatics  "  do  as  they  would  be 
done  by  ?"  Did  they  "render  unto  Cesar  the  things 
that  were  Cesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  were 
God's?" 

But  those  demoniacs  were  harmless  to  both  church 
and  State,  as  long  as  both  kept  them  at  a  distance ; 
but  when  both  opened  their  doors  to  them  officially, 


328  AFKICAN  SLAVERY. 

and  invited  them  in  for  their  money  and  votes,  our 
die  was  cast  and  ruin  sealed.  And  when  they  were 
placed  in  power  by  the  Constitutional  votes  of  "  We, 
thepeopk"  the  blessings  of  heaven  were  withdrawn 
from  us,  and  we  are  now  entering  a  gulf  of  strife  in 
which  fraternal  blood  will  flow  as  rivers,  and  unless 
we  speedily  spue  out  those  Puritanic  saints  (devils) 
from  power  we  shall  speedily  be  plunged  into  the 
most  terrible  despotism  ever  known  on  this  earth, 
yea,  under  the  fangs  of  whose  power  every  man  and 
woman  will  be  imprisoned  who  may  refuse  to  wor- 
ship the  "goddess  of  liberty"  of  Melodeon  Hall, 
Boston. 

Those  deluded  Puritanic  successors  have  now  suc- 
ceeded to  power,  and  the  coronation  took  place  the 
fourth  of  last  March,  and  now  -we  see  the  fore-shad- 
owing of  a  national  overthrow  more  terrible  than 
any  history  has  yet  recorded.  The  enormous 
amount  of  fraternal  blood  that  will  be  shed  during 
the  present  (republican)  administration  will  cause 
the  whole  civilized  world  to  wonder  if  there  is  any 
such  thing  as  Christianity.  How  else  can  it  be, 
when  the  descendants  of  the  Puritan  saints,  who  are 
now  leaders  of  the  so-called  Christian  ministry 
throughout  New  England,  have,  by  trampling  upon 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States 
and  by  the  foulest  slanders  ever  heaped  upon  any 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  so  completely  alien- 
ated the  hearts  of  our  Southern  brethren  from  us, 
that  nothing  but  the  overpowering  grace  and  love 
of  God  can  ever  reunite  the  two  extremes  of  our 
great  country,  without  which  our  government  is  no 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  329 

more  than  a  rope  of  sand.  Take  grace  and  love 
from  the  Christian  church,  and  let  such  hate  take  its 
place  as  now  exist  between  the  North  and  South  of 
our  country ;  how  long  do  you  suppose  the  church 
would  stand  ? 

There  is  but  one  road  to  a  political  salvation  for 
us,  and  that  is  for  all  those  Northern  abolition  fanat- 
ics to  stop  short,  and  "  do  to  all  others  as  they  would 
have  all  others  to  do  unto  them."  "  For  this  is  the 
law  and  the  prophets."  Without  these  Christian 
principles  shall  be  fully  established,  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  a  government  by  the  people.  Any 
attempt  to  force  the  South  to  love  us  will  be  certain 
destruction  to  our  great  national  fabric  that  was  marked 
out  and  planned  for  us  by  no  other  finger  than  God's 
own  finger  ;  therefore  tJie  slander  and  hatred.  But  let 
us  restore  the  government  by  the  principles  embraced 
in  the  above  text,  which  were  the  principles  by  which 
it  was  first  formed,  the  only  principles  on  which  it 
ever  can  be  restored,  and  without  which  it  would  not 
stand  if  restored.  If  the  free  States  had  always 
treated  the  South  according  to  the  principles  em- 
braced in  the  above  text,  there  would  not  be  one 
secessionist  this  day  south  of  Mason's  and  Dixon's 
line.  As  long  as  we  lived  by  those  principles  we 
were  inflexible,  and  all  the  powers  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  combined  could  not  have  affected  us  in  war, 
because  we  were  all,  "We,  the  people,"  and  God  was 
our  King.  We  were  all  one  people,  and  the  laws 
bore  the  same  relation  to  the  poorest  hard-working 
man  in  the  nation,  as  they  did  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  he  was  only  equally  protected 
28* 


330  AFRICAN  SLAVERY, 

with  the  poor  industrious  man  and  no  better,  and 
owned  no  more  law  than  the  poor  man. 

But  the  Chicago  platform  has  been  substituted  for 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States. 
Therefore  the  office  holders  are  our  supreme  rulers. 
The  Chicago  platform  is  a  rebellion  by  the  free 
States  against  the  Constitutional  and  lawful  rights 
of  all  the  slave  States.  The  great  Daniel  Webster 
of  Mass,  declared  all  such  proceedings  to  be  treason 
against  the  United  States  government,  in  a  speech 
he  made  at  Albany,  in  1851.  Yet' the  Melodeon 
Hall  of  Boston,  was  filled  to  overflowing  by  an  in- 
fidel crew  culled  out  of  that  city  of  education  and 
Puritanism  (a  city  that  contains  many  as  true,  and 
as  good  loyal,  national  men  as  are  in  the  Unit^l 
States),  who  clapped  their  glad  hands,  and  shouted, 
"Glory  to  a  black  Goddess  of  liberty,"  not  only 
for  having  committed  treason  against  the  United 
States  government,  but  against  the  State  govern- 
ments ;  and  for  a  theft  of  over  $50,000  worth  of 
property,  besides  robbing  her  aged  parents  of 
homes,  where  they  had  plenty  of  this  world's  goods, 
and  friends  without  limit,  and  brought  them  into  a 
country,  heartless  and  cold  towards  the  negro  race, 
especially  old  worn-out  ones. 

Now  I  ask  all  candid  men  to  look  at  this  con- 
gregation of  traitors  a  little ;  and  see  if  the  South 
had  not  reason  not  only  to  be  insulted,  but. alarmed 
to  the  extreme,  when  they  learned  that  enough  such 
men  and  women  could  collect  at  Melodeon  Hall  m 
Boston  in  1860,  to  densely  fill  it,  who  would  laugh 
and  shout  over  such  wickedness,  in  *  poor  weak- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  331 

minded  negro  woman,  in  trampling  upon  the  rights 
of  the  South  with  impunity.  What  could  be  more 
insulting,  after  having  lost  over  $50,000  worth  of 
property  by  that  delud'ed  negress,  than  for  a  large 
congregation  of  white  and  well  educated  people  of 
Boston  to  endorse  such  an  imposition  on  the  Con- 
stitutional rights  of  the  slave  States  ?  .  Had  we  any 
right  to  expect  anything  but  a  rebellion  against  a 
government  that  refuses  to  protect  them  against 
such  outrages  on  their  rights  ? 

Suppose  some  negroes  of  the  South  had  gone 
into  Massachusetts,  and  run  off  $50,000  worth  of 
horses,  and  landed  them  safe-  in  South  Carolina, 
and  two  or  three  thousand  citizens  of  Charleston 
had  collected  and  endorsed  the  operation  by  loud  ap- 
plause, and  concealed  the  property  from  the  owners, 
as  the  Bostonians  did  the  forty  negroes,  what  would 
the  Yankeys  have  thought  and  said  ?  Then  sup- 
pose this  game  had  been  going  on  forty  or  fifty 
years  without  abatement,  and  even  constantly  on 
the  increase,  until  millions  of  dollars  worth  of  our 
horses  had  been  run  off,  and  when  we  should  go 
for  them,  we  should  have  found  seven  or  eight  of 
the  slave  States  had  passed  laws  that  completely 
forestalled  the  Constitutional  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  made  it  next  thing  to  impossible  for  us 
to  recover  our  property ;  and  in  addition  to  that, 
they  should  have  turned  a  large  gang  of  negroes 
loose  against  our  free  white  citizens,  and  mobbed 
them  out  of  the  State,  or  shot  them  dead  on  the  spot, 
for  going  down  there  to  recover  their  own.  What 
should  we  fcave  thought  of  it?  Should  we  have 


332  .   AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

borne  with  it  for  fifty  years  ?  Now  I  ask  all  can- 
did men  to  look  this  thing  fair  in  the  face,  and 
answer  me  the  question,  should  we  not  have  re- 
belled against  the  government  long  before  this,  if 
the  circumstances  had  been  reversed  as  above  ? 

It  is  all  nonsense  to  say  the  South  has  done 
any  worse  than  what  we  should  have  done  under  the 
same  circumstances.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is :  cer- 
tain leading  men  in  the  free  States  have  been  aiming 
to  produce  a  rebellion  for  forty  years,  and  had  the 
South  not  loved  the  Union  a  thousand  times  better 
than  the  Melodeon  Hall  assembly,  they  would  have 
seceded  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago.  Every  man  and 
woman  who  has  studied  human  nature  to  any  extent, 
and  had  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  movements  of 
the  abolitionists  or  disloyal  people  of  the  North  or 
free  States,  have  been  looking  for  this  rebellion  to 
to  take  place  since  1850 ;  for  as  soon  as  the  fugitive 
slave  law  was  passed  by  Congress,  in  that  very  year, 
some  of  the  free  State  Legislatures  amended  their 
personal  liberty  bills  so  as  to  overthrow  or  defeat, 
its  action,  if  possible.  Several  of  the  free  States 
rebelled  at  once  by  Legislative  acts  against  the  law 
of  the  United  States,  passed  for  the  security  of  the 
South.  This  assertion  is  proved  by  the  personal 
liberty  bills  passed  in  several  -of  the  free  States. 
If  you  do  not  agree  with  me  that  this  rebellion 
was  forced  upon  us  by  the  free  States  rebelling 
against  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States,  I  shall  yield  all  hope  of  this  great  Union 
ever  being  restored,  and  shall  look  for  a  military 
despotism  to  be  permanently  established,  that  is 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.     .  333 

now  only  temporarily  upon  us.  There  were  not 
only  free  State  laws  passed  against  the  national 
laws,  but  associations  were  formed  all  over  the  free 
States  to  defeat  the  Constitutional  laws  of  the 
United  States,  many  of  whom  pledged  their  lives 
that  those  laws  never  should  be  executed  in  their 
respective  neighborhoods;  and  employed  the  free 
negroes  and  fugitive  slaves  to  aid  them  in  the  exe- 
cution of  their  treasonable  designs.  ^And  perhaps 
one-half  of  all  New  England  pulpits  constantly 
echoed  the  loudest  declamations  against  those  laws, 
and  the  rights  of  the  southern  people,  attended  with 
the  foulest  slanders  ever  heaped  upon  any  people, 
by  any  man  or  set  of  men.  I  say,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances (in  connection  with  the  success  of  that 
very  party  in  the  national  election  of  1860,  on 
a  platform  containing  the  clearest  treason  which 
the  whole  party  was  pledged  to  sustain  at  all 
hazards),  we  had  no  right  to  have  looked  for  any 
thing  else  but  a  rebellion  and  a  civil  war.  We  have 
brought  it  on  ourselves  by  not  doing  "  as  we  would  be 
done  by." 

I  will  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  South  did  not 
desire  to  rebel  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  only  so  far  as  the  United  States  officials 
refused  to  protect  the  slave  States  in  their  Constitu- 
tional rights  by  not  making  them  equal  with  the 
free  States.  They  only  intended  to  rebel  against 
the  executors  of  the  national  government  (and  all 
others)  who  were  chosen  from  that  class  of  people 
who  had  declared  themselves  against  the  civil  in- 
stitutions of  the  slave  States.  As  Seward  (now 


334  .      AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Secretary  of  State)  said,  "  slavery  must  and  shall  be 
abolished,  and  we  can  do  it."  Mr.  Lincoln  said  one 
year  before  his  nomination,  that  "  this  is  a  world  of 
compensation,  and  he  who  would  be  no  slave,  must 
own  no  slaves.  He  who  denieth  freedom  to  others 
deserves  it  not  for  himself,  and  under  a  just  God  he 
shall  not  long  retain  it." 

Between  sixty  and  seventy  republican  members 
of  both  houses  of  Congress  endorsed  with  their  own 
signatures  and  by  their  own  hand  in  1859  the  fol- 
lowing sentiments : — 

"  Ineligibility  of  slave-holders.  Never  another  vote  to  the 
trafficker  in  human  flesh.  No  co-operation  with  slave-holders 
in  politics.  No  fellowship  with  them  in  religion.  No  affilia- 
tion with  them  in  society.  No  patronage  to  slave-holding 
merchants.  No  guestship  to  slave-waiting  hotels.  No  fees  to 
slave-holding  lawyers.  No  employment  to  slave-holding 
physicians.  No  audience  to  slave-holding  parsons.  No  re- 
cognition of  pro-slavery  men  except  as  ruffians,  outlaws,  and 
criminals.  Abrupt  discontinuance  of  subscription  to  pro- 
slavery  newspapers.  Immediate  death  to  slavery,  if  not 
immediate,  unqualified  proscription  of  its  advocates  during 
the  period  of  its  existence.  A  tax  of  sixty  dollars  on  each 
and  every  negro  in  his  possession  at  the  present  time,  or  at 
any  intermediate  time  between  now  and  the  4th  of  July, 
1863,"  &c.  &c. 

This  is  a  correct  quotation  from  Helper's  book, 
that  was  endorsed  by  nearly  all  the  republican 
members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress.  This,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  John  Brown  raid  that  was 
arranged  to  take  place  just  at  the  right  time  to 
produce  the  greatest  and  most  alarming  effect  upon 
the  minds  of  the  people  of  the  slave  States,  did  pro- 
duce an  alarm  and  consternation  unsurpassed.  Those 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  335 

republican  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress 
who  did  not  endorse  Helper's  book  with  their  signa- 
tures, mostly  defended  those  who  did  by  all  the 
powers  they  possessed.  Let  any  candid  man  read 
the  quotation  above,  then  turn  to  another  page  of 
the  same,  and  read  the  names  of  all  the  endorsers  of 
those  sentiments,  and  get  a  copy  of  the  Congress- 
ional Globe  of  that  Congress,  and  see  how  strong 
most  all  other  republicans  endorsed  them  in  their 
speeches,  and  denounced  all  who  dared  to  condemn 
those  sentiments.  This  is  not  a  thousandth  part 
of  what  has  been  said  and  written  against  the 
Southern  people  by  leading  men  of  the  North. 

Now,  think  of  human  nature,  and  tell  me,  had  we 
any  right  to  expect  anything  but  secession  and  re- 
bellion in  a  country  like  this,  where  the  govern- 
ment was  with  the  people  ?  And  just  as  sure  as  God 
lives,  we  shall  be  humiliated,  unless  we  speedily 
stop  our  rebellion  and  persecutions  against  the 
Southern  State  rights,  and  give  them  all  that  was 
conceded  to  them  by  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion in  1787.  The  Southern  people  have  never  in- 
terfered with  us,  nor  with  any  Constitutional  law  of 
the  free  States.  I  know  a  few  leaders  of  South 
Carolina  attempted  to  nullify  a  national  law  in  1832, 
and  all  other  Southern  Statesmen  nullified  them,  and 
would  this  day  still  do  the  same  to  all  such,  had  we 
not  nullified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  laws  of  Congress  passed  for  the  protection 
of  the  lawful  institutions  of  the  slave  States,  by  the 
laws  of  many  of  the  free  States.  I  ask  candid 
Christian  men  to  say  whether  we  had  a  right  to 


336  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

look  for  anything  bat  national,  State,  and  individual 
overthrow,  and  social  ruin. 

Whom  has  the  present  national  executive  called 
around  him  for  his  supporters  and  guides?  Why, 
those  very  men  who  cordially  endorsed  the  above 
declarations  in  Helper's  book,  and  none  others. 
Only  think  of  it  I  Eead  the  sentiments  over  again, 
and  suppose  yourself  to  have  been  a  Southern  slave- 
holder, and  then  remember  that  the  very  men  who 
endorsed  those  sentiments  had  succeeded  in  1860 
in  the  election  to  the  Presidency  of  one  who  had  so 
recently  declared  in  writing  to  that  party,  that  he 
who  refused  to  free  his  negroes  should  be  made  a 
slave  himself,  and  that  speedily.  Could  any  family, 
social  circle,  or  any  volunteer  association  or  com- 
bination either  religious  or  political,  hang  together 
under  such  circumstances  ?  Look  at  it  and  bring 
it  home  to  yourselves.  Eemember  that  the  Presi- 
dent has  surrounded  himself  with  the  most  ultra  of 
the  endorsers  of  Helper,  and  exhausted  his  patron- 
age with  them;  and  will  give  no  man  an  office  of 
the  most  paltry  kind,  who  refuses  to  endorse  Helper 
entire ;  and  by  so  doing  he  has  laid  a  sickle  with 
two  edges  at  the  root  of  the  best  and  most  whole- 
some government  ever  formed  since  the  one  for  our 
first  parents  in  Eden.  Every  Christian  man  and 
woman,  who  knows  anything  of  human  nature, 
knows  that  a  volunteer  government  must  be  volun- 
tarily sustained,  or  fall  into  ruin.  But  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  selected  by  the  endorsers  of  the  above  declara- 
tion from  Helper's  book.  Eead  over  the  quotation 
again,  and  in  view  of  all  these  circumstances,  say 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  337 

whether  we  had  a  right  to  have  expected  anything 
else  than  the  threatening  circumstances  which  are 
thickening  before  us. 

Don't  stop  to  accuse  me  of  being  a.  secessionist, 
traitor,  disunionist,  or  a  sympathizer  with  rebellion, 
for  there  is  not  the  slightest  shadow  of  truth  in  the 
declaration,  unless  rebellion  against  the  abolitionism 
of  the  free  States  be  treason. 

Let  the  present  administration  and  all  other  abo- 
litionists, including  the  worshippers  of  the  black 
goddess  of  liberty  of  Melodeon  Hall,  Boston,  "  do  as 
they  would  be  done  by ;"  then  we  shall  have  peace 
throughout  our  great  and  glorious  country,  and  the 
Union  be  restored  in  less  than  a  month. 

"  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets." 

The  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  Don't  forget  to  notice 
the  words  in  the  text,  " all  things  whatsoever" 

I  wrote  about  two  thirds  of  this  chapter  in  1860, 
prior  to  the  Presidential  election,  and  the  balance 
soon  after  the  firing  upon  the  American  flag  by  the 
rebels  at  Charleston.  This  is  the  reason  why  it  first 
speaks  of  prospective ;  then  the  appearance  of  present 
strife  between  the  North  and  South. 


29 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Correspondence  between  Mrs.  Mason  of  Virginia,  and  Mrs. 
Childs  of  Massachusetts.  Mrs.  Childs'  Scriptural  Quotations 
to  sustain  Abolitionism. 

MBS.  SENATOR  MASON  wrote  Mrs.  Childs  last  fall, 
soon  after  the  John  Brown  raid  in  Virginia,  on  the 
impropriety  of  the  interference  by  Northern  people, 
with  the  lawful  institutions  of  the  South,  to  caution 
abolitionists  not  to  place  the  southern  people  into 
such  imminent  danger,  by  trying  to  get  up  servile 
insurrections  in  the  South.  Mrs.  Childs  answers  in 
a  long  letter,  justifying  herself  in  her  ungodly  insur- 
rectionary work,  in  teaching  southern  slaves  that 
they  are  as  good  as  their  masters,  and  should  be  in- 
subordinate, and  by  charging  the  southern  slave- 
holder with  the  most  infamous  and  foul  crimes  that 
ever  were  charged  to  the  hearts  and  hands  of  human 
beings.  She  quotes  largely  from  Miss  Grimkee,  said 
to  be  a  daughter  of  Judge  Grimkee  of  South  Caroli- 
na, who  came  North  (she  said)  to  get  clear  of  the 
sound  of  the  lash,  and  bemoanings  of  the  tortured 
slaves,  that  did  not  cease  to  sound  in  her  ears  from 
six  in  the  morning  until  late  in  the  evening. 

I  have  unfortunately  lost  fifteen  pages  of  my 
manuscripts,  in  which  I  replied  to  the  awful  slanders 
(  338  ) 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  339 

therein  made ;  and  as  I  have  lost  the  letter  of  Mrs. 
Childs  also,  I  have  to  restore  them  from  memory. 
Therefore,  can  give  only  an  outline  of  one  or  two 
stories.  One  was,  that  it  was  so  common  to  whip 
slaves  to  death,  that  it  was  no  more  noticed  than 
killing  an  animal,  and  that  for  the  slightest  dis- 
obedience. That  it  'was  an  every  day  occurrence 
to  strip  men  and  women  naked,  and  tie  them  up  to 
a  limb  by  the  hands,  and  draw  them  up  until  they 
were  on  tiptoe,  and  then  give  them  five  hundred 
lashes,  and  let  them  stand  in  that  position  for  many 
hours,  after  having  bathed  them  with  salt  and  water, 
and  then  give  them  five  hundred  lashes  more,  and 
salt  them  again,  and  let  them  hang  for  some  hours 
more,  and  cut  them  down.  They  frequently  died 
under  this  torture,  and  no  account  taken  of  it. 

Again;  after  tying  up  men  and  women  in  the 
same  position,  they  would  take  a  large  paddle  made 
for  the  purpose,  with  holes  through  it,  and  paddle 
their  naked  bodies  with  it ;  every  hole  in  the  paddle 
would  raise  a  blister,  at  each  blow,  until  the  whole 
surface  of  the  body  would  be  a  complete  jelly,  and 
then  they  would  throw  on  the  salt  and  water,  for  still 
greater  tortures ;  and  that  they  frequently  died  under 
this  mode  of  torture  also,  but  no  account  taken  of  it 
by  the  authorities,  an-*'  'f  they  should  happen  to 
notice  it,  it  would  bf  *ssed  over  by  a  sham  trial, 
and  the  parties  discharged,  or  never  call  it  up  for 
trial. 

I  have  no  doubt  some  could  be  found  in  the  North 
weak  enough  to  believe  such  enormities  in  -crime. 
And  I  might  believe  such  stories  under  some  cir- 


34:0  AFRICAN    SLAVERY. 

cumstances.  But  no  thoughtful  person  would  be- 
lieve this  one  told  by  Miss  Grimkee.  I  have 
travelled  a  great  deal  over  this  country,  and  have 
not  yet  seen  the  party  or  parties  who  were  willing  to 
amuse  themselves  at  so  dear  a  rate.  Every  man  or 
woman  will  count  the  cost  of  their  pleasures.  But 
I  do  not  believe  that  any  man  in  his  right  mind 
could  enjoy  such  cruelties  and  tortures,  even  if  it 
cost  them  nothing  in  dollars  and  cents.  And  if  the 
believers  in  Miss  Grimkee's  book  will  take  a  cow 
skin,  and  give  a  tree  five  hundred  lashes  as  hard  as 
they  can  lay  on,  and  then  give  it  five  hundred  more 
in  the  same  strain,  they  will  find  themselves  very 
tired  when  done,  and  will  conclude  there  is  too 
much  labor  for  the  trifling  fiendish  pleasure  it  might 
be  to  them,  when  we  remember  that  the  people  of 
the  South  are  not  so  fond  of  hard  work.  And  that 
such  flogging  may  cost  the  owner  S1500  each,  for 
he  could  get  that  sum  for  the  slave  at  any  time  if 
sound. 

Is  it  possible,  that  any  man  or  woman  is  fool 
enough  to  believe  any  such  'stories?  Who  would 
believe  any  one  raised  in  the  South  could  tell  so 
monstrous  a  falsehood  ?  It  would  be  hard  for  me 
to  decide  which  I  would  prefer  to  be  guilty  of:  the 
believing  of  such  unnatural  and  foul  slander,  or  to 
be  the  originator  of  it.  For  I  think  I  should  com- 
mit as  great  a  sin  by  one  as  the  other.  It  is  hard 
for  me  to  believe  any  man  or  woman  credulous 
enough  to  believe  such  monstrosities,  and  cannot 
persuade  myself  they  believe  it  when  they  tell  it, 
unless  reason  has  been  confused.  And  if  such 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  341 

tilings  were  sanctioned  in  the  Bible,  all  sucli  as  Mrs. 
Child*  and  Miss  Grimkee  would  take  the  opposite 
track,  •  and  deny  the  truth  of  all  such  statements. 
What,  a  man  to  purchase  negroes  at  $1000,  $1200, 
and  $1500  each,  and  then  whip  them  to  death,  or 
maim  them  so  that  they  would  be  of  no  use  what- 
ever ?  Would  you  believe  that  a  man  would  pur- 
chase a  thousand  dollar  horse  and  then  whip  him  to 
death,  or  allow  it  done  ?  I  thought  Miss  Grimkee's 
murderous  stories  were  sufficient  to  murder  them- 
selves; though  I  am  inclined  to  believe  she  only 
intended  them  as  a  burlesque  on  the  monstrous 
abolition  stories  told  and  written  by  the  thousand 
by  other  unscrupulous  persons.  And  yet  Mrs, 
Childs,  of  Wyland,  Massachusetts,  seizes  upon  them 
in  her  reply  to  Mrs.  Mason,  with  an  air  of  boast 
that  would  seem  to  a  credulous  mind  to  be  sincere, 
and  quoted,  the  whole  story,  as  though  it  had  been 
the  Gospel  of  God  our  Saviour. 

I  still  have  the  part  of  this  chapter  embracing 
Mrs.  Childs'  quotation  from  Scripture  to  sustain  her- 
self and  Miss  Grimkee,  and  to  condemn  slaveholders, 
which  is  sufficient  of  themselves  to  satisfy  any  man 
that  reads  the  Scriptures  for  the  truths  therein  con- 
tained, that  the  abolitionists  know  better,  and  that 
with  the  fact  that  they  care  nothing  for  the  suffering 
of  the  poor  free  people  of  color,  either  North  or 
South.  And  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cheever, 
and  all  others  that  are  laboring  to  abolish  slavery 
in  this  country,  ought  to  satisfy  any  observing 
mind  that  it  is  not  the  slaves,  or  slavery,  or  slave- 
holders they  care  about;  it  is  evident  they  have 
29* 


342  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

other  objects  in  view  than  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
Then  what  can  their  object  be,  you  ask  ?  It  is  for 
the  abolition  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  union  of  States,  that  the  "Liberator1'1 
says  is  in  "  league  with  hell.'1  (The  Liberator  is  the 
organ  of  the  abolition  party.) 

Why  should  they  want  to  break  up  such  a  coun- 
try and  government  as  this  that  is  the  ante-chamber 
of  heaven  ?  I  ask  the  inquirer,  why  did  the  devil 
say  to  Eve  "thou  shall  not  surely  die?"  was  it  not  to 
prevent  the  Kingdom  of  God  from  ever  being 
established  on  this  planet,  where  he  (the  devil)  had 
reigned,  perhaps,  many  millions  of  years  without  a 
competitor?  I  answer  that  the  abolitionists  have 
the  same  object  in  view  that  the  king  of  darkness 
had  when  he  spoke  to  Eve,  and  said,  "  thou  shalt 
not  surely  die."  They  hate  God,  and  righteousness, 
and  this  government,  because  it  is  so  God-like  in  its 
formations  and  aims,  and  (they)  being  the  true 
Aping  sons  and  daughters  in  spirit  of  the  same  old 
Apollyon.  They  take  upon  themselves  every  form 
of  Christianity  that  they  may  effect  the  destruction 
of  the  Constitution  of  this  great  and  glorious  go- 
vernment, that  he,  their  master,  the  devil,  may  reign 
supreme  and  without  a  rival  on  this  globe  of  ours. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  to  say  that  the 
abolitionists  are  the  only  infidels  on  this  continent ; 
for  there  is  another  set  in  the  South  called  fire- 
eaters,  who  are  the  legitimate  offspring  of  the  aboli- 
tionists of  the  North,  and  they  might  be  called  the 
children  of  the  devil,  for  they  are  co-workers  with 
the  abolitionists  in  the  work  of  the  destruction  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  343 

this,  the  best  government  known  under  heaven. 
A  government  formed  by  God  himself;  for  it  was 
not  in  the  heart  of  man  to  form  such  a  one ;  and  no 
one  in  the  Convention  of  1787  intended  to  make  it 
just  what  it  is.  But  He  interfered,  and  would  not 
allow  them  to  agree  on  any  other  form,  and  no  one 
of  them  seemed  pleased  with  it  at  the  time.  Every 
article  in  it  seemed  to  be  the  result  of  compromise 
between  the  conflicting  parties  in  the  convention. 
And  they  at  one  time  came  to  a  dead  lock,  being 
completely  gamed,  and  could  not  move  one  inch 
further.  Here  was  a  perplexing  dilemma.  No  one 
seemed  to  see  light.  Some  proposed  to  give  up 
and  fall  back  on  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  And 
they  sat  and  looked  at  each  other  with  despair. 
And  it  was  only  when  they  saw  that  they  could  do 
nothing  else,  that  a  proposition  was  made  to  send 
for  Bishop  White  to  come  and  offer  up  a  prayer  to 
Him  who  saw  their  dilemma,  and  held  them  fast. 
The  good  Bishop  arrived  with  his  Bible  in  hand, 
took  his  stand  on  the  platform,  opened  the  holy 
book,  read  a  chapter,  and  called  upon  them  to  unite  * 
with  him  in  prayer.  He  knelt  down,  and  with 
uplifted  hands  and  heart,  he  stated  the  case  to  the 
great  God  of  the  universe,  and  implored  his  mercy, 
his  blessing,  and  his  direction  in  the  great  dilemma 
they  had  fallen  into,  and  to  lead  them  in  the  path 
of  Union  and  love.  "When  he  was  done,  every- 
thing seemed  changed.  The  sunlight  of  hope 
broke  through  the  dark  cloud  that  had  benighted 
them.  The  spirit  of  love  was  visible  in  each  face, 
and  the  Christian  spirit  of  compromise  was  felt  in 


344  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

every  heart.  From  that  time,  each  member  of  the 
convention  seemed  disposed  to  yield  in  part  for  the 
sake  of  an  agreement,  that  the  Constitution  might 
be  formed  and  adopted  for  the  sake  "of  a  more 
perfect  Union"  than  that  of  the  Confederation  which 
was  nominal  and  without  ligaments.  And  they  had 
little  or  no  trouble  after  that  prayer  was  ended. 
They  formed  the  Constitution ;  that  is  to  the  United 
States  just  what  the  Bible  is  to  the  Christian  church. 
And  woe  be  unto  that  party,  or  State,  or  confedera- 
tion of  States  that  shall  attempt  its  destruction. 

I  have  digressed  too  far  from  my  subject,  and 
will  return  after  saying  that  if  all  the  contending 
parties  would  now  send  for  such  a  man  as  Bishop 
AVhite,  and  in  the  same  spirit  that  he  was  sent  for, 
all  contentions,  disputes,  and  divisions  would  end 
in  a  week. 

Some  persons  may  think  I  use  very  severe  lan- 
guage towards  Mrs.  Childs,  Miss  Grimkee,  and  other 
great  apostles  of  abolitionism.  But  if  they  saw 
the  consequences  ahead  as  I  do,  they  would  say — 
fsay  on,  for  God's  sake,  and  awake  the  people  that 
they  may  see  the  deep  black  gulf  of  civil  or  ser- 
vile war  that  they  are  surreptitiously  leading  the 
nation  into.  But  instead  of  giving  us  encourage- 
ment in  foretelling  the  troubles  and  pointing  out  the 
way  of  escape  to  the  rock  of  safety  and  universal 
2~>eace  and  union,  they  cursed  us  with  bitter  curses, 
and  told  us  we  were  hirelings  of  the  democratic 
party,  and  were  working  under  false  pretences,  to 
enable  them  to  elect  their  candidate  to  the  Presi- 
dency. Many  of  the  old  Whig,  American,  and  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  345 

People's  parties  having  united  themselves  with  the 
Republican  party,  who  had  dropt  the  name  of  aboli- 
tion, free  soil,  and  anti-slavery,  and  taken  the  name 
of  Eepublican ;  which  was  about  as  consistent  as  it 
would  be  for  an  African  negro  to  drop  his  title  and 
take  that  of  Anglo-Saxon.  It  was  surreptitiously 
taken,  and  for  purposes  of  deception.  There  were 
a  few  thousand  in  the  North  who  saw  the  trick,  and 
refused  to  take  a  part  in  the  union  with  the  Eepub- 
lican party  ;  who  in  order  to  destroy  and  defeat  our 
movements  to  save  this  country  from  civil  or  servile 
insurrection,  war,  and  anarchy,  or  an  everlasting 
despotism.  We  were  accused  of,  and  called  every- 
thing bad,  and  nothing  good. 

I  wrote  this  chapter  long  before  the  election 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  by  some  mishap,  as  before  stated, 
I  lost  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  pages  of  manuscript 
out  of  forty-four,  and  now  rewrite  a  part  of  it,  after 
the  election,  from  notes  I  made  at  that  tirUe ;  there- 
fore, I  cannot  avoid  alluding  to  facts  as  they  then 
were,  and  as  they  now  are.  When  we  told  the  peo- 
ple what  would  be  the  result  of  the  success  of  the 
republican  party  in  the  election  of  1860,  we  were 
called  fools — cursed  fools — locofoco  lickspittles,  whom 
they  hired  to  do  their  dirty  work,  negro  traders,  pro- 
slavers;  and  at  least  three  hundred  thousand  men  of 
the  free  States  united  in  those  declarations,  and  that 
to  vote  for  the  Constitutional  Union  party  would  only 
be  voting  for  the  locofoco  party,  when  they  knew  in 
their  hearts  that  it  was  not  so ;  and  the  most  of  them 
only  did  it  that  they  might  succeed  in  electing  a 


346  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

President  by  an  exclusive  sectional  vote  of  the  free 
States  against  the  slave  States. 

They  were  told  by  thousands  of  the  best  men  in 
the  free  States  what  the  result  would  be.  But  the 
leading  Eepublicans  only  spit  at  us,  and  threw 
their  dirty  water  upon  us.  And  the  same  leaders 
after  having  secured  the  offices,  and  robbed  the 
State  treasury  of  this  State  of  at  least  $500,000,  and 
other  corporations  and  associations  of  $500,000 
more  by  extortion,  and  the  sale  of  their  votes  and  a 
signature  with  the  State  seal,  turned  around  and 
charge  us  Union  loving  men  with  being  secession- 
ists and  rebels  against  this  glorious  government, 
that  would  be  a  heaven-like  Union  was  it  not  for 
abolitionism;  and  we  are  so  strongly  threatened 
with  the  hemp,  that  I,  for  one,  conceit  I  almost  feel 
the  rope  around  my  neck,  and  simply  for  proposing 
measures  to  try  to  settle  this  question  without  a 
most  inhuman,  unnatural  contest  between  brethren 
of  the  same  family,  when,  once  fully  inaugurated 
and  seated,  will  be  one  of  the  most  bloody  ever 
known  on  this  earth ;  and  when  we  have  conquered 
them,  it  will  be  found  that  they  are  not  subdued. 
And  even  if  we  should  subdue  them  and  bring 
them  into  the  traces  of  the  Union  again,  what  will 
be  the  state  of  society  ?  Will  fifty  years  bring  us 
back  again  to  where  we  were  prior  to  the  John 
Brown  raid  in  Virginia  ?  See  how  demoralization 
has  spread  already. 

Talk  even  to  some  of  our  Christian  ministers  on 
the  subject,  and  see  if  they  exhibit  anything  of  the 
spirit  that  was  in  our  Lord  while  he  sojourned  here 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  347 

below.  No ;  you  will  find  them  full  of  fight  and 
the  spirit  of  revenge.  I  talked  with  one  not  long 
since,  who  at  once  bristled  up,  his  eye  filled  with 
•  vengeance,  and  he  said  he  would  see  the  Union  flin- 
dered  to  atoms  before  he  would  yield  one  tittle  from  the 
so-called  republican  principles.  So  the  Christian 
church  generally  are  becoming  more  or  less  de- 
moralized by  the  contest  even  now.  If  that  is  the 
case  now,  what  will  it  be  when  this  war  shall  be 
ended  by  the  force  of  arms,  and  our  fathers,  our 
sons,  and  our  brothers  have  been  slain  ?  Shall  we 
love  the  South  as  we  did  before  ?  Will  there  not 
be  a  bitterness  of  feeling  that  will  not  be  wiped  out 
only  when  this  generation  has  been  forgotten,  and 
every  page  of  history  obliterated  that  shall  truly 
record  its  scenes  ?  Our  children's  children  will  be 
more  or  less  tainted  with  it.  What  a  history  it  will 
be  to  hand  down  to  our  children,  and  grandchildren, 
and  their  successors.  Of  course  they  will  take  it 
for  an  example  or  precedent ;  will  it  be  such  as  our 
Lord  left  on  record  for  us  ? 

The  abolitionists  want  to  break  up  the  union  of 
States.  I  for  one  cannot  now,  nor  ever  shall,  consent 
to  a  division  of  these  States  into  two  separate  king- 
doms. All  I  asked  for  is,  that  all  honorable  and 
Christian  means  should  be  used  before  force,  to  try 
to  settle  the  dispute,  without  a  resort  to  arms.  We 
have  a  record  to  cleanse,  which  ought  to  be  done  be- 
fore we  ask  our  brethren  to  correct  theirs.  Let  us 
first  "cast  the  beam  out  of  our  own  eye,  that  we 
may  see  clearly  how  to  remove  the  mote  from  our 
brother's  eye."  We  have  laws  in  a  number  of  the 


348  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

free  States  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  This  is  enough  to  make  the 
South  to  feel  that  she  has  the  right  to  appropriate 
the  whole  instrument  to  herself,  and  to  establish  an 
independent  government  on  its  principles.  After 
we  have  given  them  all  their  lawful  rights  under 
the  Constitution,  and  then  if  they  still  refuse  to  co- 
operate with  us  in  the  Union,'  I  would  then  say 
make  them  do  it  at  any  cost. 

I  have  been  told  so  often  in  debates  on  the  dangers 
this  Union  was  in,  by  ultra  republicans,  that  they 
would  let  the  Union  slide.  This  was  a  very  common 
expression  through  the  campaign  of  1860,  and  even 
a  member  of  Congress  from  the  third  district,  I  am 
told,  said  that  he  would  see  this  government  split  to 
atoms  before  he  would  yield  one  inch  from  the  late 
republican  platform.  If  this  is  the  spirit  that  is  to 
be  shown  by  the  party  coming  into  power,  terrible 
will  be  the  result.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if 
the  South  should  take  the  Constitution  and  appro- 
priate it  to  their  exclusive  use,  when  members  of 
Congress  abandon  it,  and  take  the  Chicago  plat- 
form in  preference,  and  say  they  would  see  the 
Constitution  flindered  to  atoms  before  they  would 
yield  one  principle  of  said  platform. 

Now  in  the  name  of  heaven,  what  are  we  to  ex- 
pect, when  we  find  that  members  of  Congress  have 
no  respect  for  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  take  a  party  platform  for  the  government  of 
this  nation,  adopted  by  a  set  of  office  seekers,  who 
are  thirsting  for  power,  place,  and  the  public  crib  ? 
May  the  Lord  save  the  people !  Slavery  has  been 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  349 

made  the  machine  for  all  this.  What  a  convenience 
is  made  of  the  old  patriarchal  institution  when 
there  is  not  one  word  found  on  Scriptural  record  or 
reason  that  shows  slavery  to  be  a  moral  evil. 

Modern  emancipationists  say  there  are  a  great 
many  sins  not  named  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth  that 
we  know  to  be  sins,  and  the  sin  of  slavery  was  ne- 
glected or  forgotten.  I  would  ask  if  there  is  any 
sin  named  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth  that  is  not 
condemned  by  the  writers  of  the  moral  law  ?  If 
slavery  be  a  sin,  it  is  the  only  one  that  was  so  ex- 
tensively spoken  of  without  having  one  condemna- 
tory sentence  passed  against  it.  They  say  card- 
playing  was  not  mentioned,  and  many  other  sinful 
games.  But  card-playing  is  not  mentioned  at  all, 
and  it  is  evident  did  not  exist  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles.  But  no  one  will  pretend  to  say  that  slavery 
did  not  exist,  even  as  far  back  as  Noah,  Moses,  Abra- 
ham, Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  notwithstanding  this,  there 
is  not  a  single  declaration  or  precept  made  directly 
or  indirectly  against  it.  But  swearing,  or  taking 
God's  name  in  vain,  lying,  stealing,  murder,  adultery, 
fornication,  and  drunkenness,  and  all  such  are  de- 
clared to  be  sinful  and  forbidden  by  the  moral  law, 
all  of  which  were  extensively  practised  in  those 
days.  For  the  evidence  of  which  I  will  refer  the 
reader  to  the  first  two  chapters  of  this  book. 

St.  Paul  never  told  the  owners  of  slaves  that  they 
must  set  them  free,  or  that  they  could  not  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Glory  hereafter ;  not  the  slight- 
est intimation  of  the  kind  was  given.  Yet  there 
was  a  moral  connected  with  slavery  as  with  every- 
30 


350  AFRICAN  SLAVKKV. 

thing  else.  If  a  master  treats  liis  slaves  as  mere 
beasts  of  burden,  and  refuses  to  look  upon  them  as 
men,  he  is  a  moral  rebel,  and  will  be  held  as  such ; 
and  God  will  judge  him  accordingly.  But  tells  the 
masters  how  they  must  treat  their  slaves,  and  re- 
minds them  that  they  have  a  master  in  heaven. 
The  master  must  remember  his  slaves  have  the 
same  infirmities  caused  by  the  same  transgressions, 
and  in  addition  to  that  the  servant  has  the  curse 
put  upon  Canaan  to  bear,  caused  by  the  sins  of  Ham. 
against  his  father  Noah,  therefore  they  are  to  be 
bond-servants  forever;  and  they  merit  the  sym- 
pathy of  their  masters;  and  do  not  deserve  to  be 
treated  merely  as  beasts  of  burden  but  as  an  un- 
fortunate man  that  is  -of  great  use  to  the  world, 
made  up  of  flesh  and  blood,  soul  and  body,  just  as 
the  white  man  is,  and  that  it  is  sufficient  to  be  a 
slave  without  being  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron.  That 
they  must  not  be  stinted  in  food  and  raiment,  and 
he  must  make  them  as  comfortable  as  circumstances 
\vill  allow.  The  servants  are  affectionately  told 
that  they  must  render  unto  their  masters  due  ser- 
vice, that  by  so  doing  they  please  God,  and  that  it 
will  be  counted  in  righteousness.  That  their  time 
belongs  to  their  masters  and  must  not  be  wasted, 
and  if  it  is,  it  will  be  counted  in  unrighteousness. 
So  the  duties  of  each  are  equally  set  forth  by  St. 
Paul,  and  both  will  be  held  equally  accountable 
for  their  doings  towards  each  other,  in  the  great  and 
final  day  of  reckoning. 

But  the  Apostle  nowhere  teaches   that  the   ser- 
vant is  to  be  placed  on  an  equality  with  his  master 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  351 

in  this  world.  But  the  supremacy  of  the  master  is 
set  forth  everywhere  in  the  Bible.  Yet  the  apos- 
tles of  abolitionism  teach  another  and  different  doc- 
trine. They  tell  the  slaves  to  be  disobedient  to  their 
masters,  and  not  render  unto  them  good  service,  for 
none  belongs  to  them ;  that  their  masters  are  thieves, 
murderers,  and  robbers,  therefore  run  away,  steal 
their  masters'  money,  and  their  horses  to  make  their 
escape,  and  if  their  masters  attempt  to  stop  them, 
kill  them  as  they  would  a  mad  dog.  When  he  gets 
him  away  from  his  master  who  respected  him,  and 
cared  for  him,  and  watched  over  him  in  sickness, 
dressed  his  wounds,  and  soothed  his  heart  under 
pain,  he  leaves  him  among  strangers  in  a  cold  cli- 
mate, without  money  or  friends,  and  he  at  once 
becomes  an  object  of  charity,  but  soon  finds  that 
there  is  no  response.  He  is  sick,  and  no  doctor, 
no  nursing  mistress's  soothing  hand  to  wipe  the 
sweat  from  his  or  her  heated  brow.  No  master's 
pocket  to  lean  upon,  nor  wood  pile  to  resist  the 
piercing  northwester.  And  that  his  hypocritical 
pretended  abolition  friend  is  always  distant  in  the 
time  of  need.  He  is  left  to  starve  and  die ;  and  no 
one  to  drop  a  tear  upon  the  plank,  brick  pavement, 
or  virgin  earth  on  which  he  may  be  stretched  to  die. 
Now  I  ask  which  teaching  of  the  two  is  the  most 
Christ-like,  or  human,  and  common  sense-like?  Tell 
me  which  is  the  most  merciful,  the  teachings  of  St. 
Paul,  or  that  of  the  abolitionist?  Throw  off  your 
prejudices  ;  look  the  subject  fair  in  the  face ;  think 
of  the  common  lot  of  the  whole  human  family,  and 
make  up  your  mind  from  sound  unbiassed  reason 


352  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

and  common  sense,  and  say  which  is  the  most  God- 
like, or  which  is  the  most  demon-like.  I  must  be 
allowed  to  think  every  candid  seeker  of  the  truth 
will  say  St.  Paul's  doctrine  is  the  most  Christian- 
like  and  reasonable.  I  think  it  would  be  better  for 
him  who  takes  so  strong  a  stand  against  the  Bible 
and  the  United  States  government  to  be  careful. 

I  have  said  enough  about  the  usefulness  of  slaves 
in  previous  chapters,  to  which  I  refer  the  reader. 

Through  the  fall  from  Eden  the  whole  earth  was 
corrupted,  and  the  torrid  and  frigid  zones,  the  blast- 
ing winters,  the  burning  summers,  and  all  that  is 
unpleasant  was  produced  through  the  sin  of  Adam, 
and  so,  also  slavery,  for  usefulness  in  the  tropics. 
Man  is  in  fault,  therefore  he  must  submit  to  the 
direful  and  variegated  consequences.  The  African 
race,  as  slaves,  are  one  of  the  offsprings  of  sin,  but 
not  sin  in  itself,  and  his  lot  is  before  him,  and  he 
will  have  to  submit.  And  if  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
attempts  to  change  the  decrees  of  God,  God  may  re- 
verse the  curse ;  and  terrible  will  be  the  day  when 
negro  slaves  shall  become  the  masters  of  those  who 
have  interfered  with  God's  arrangements  among 
men — better  for  him  he  had  never  been  born.  He 
may  look  upon  the  highwayman,  the  pickpocket, 
the  burglar,  the  swindler,  and  the  deceiver  and  rob- 
ber of  the  widow  and  orphan  with  contempt,  hatred, 
and  condemnation,  and  even  feel  that  such  persons 
would  be  a  blackening  disgrace  to  a  midnight  assas- 
sin's gallows  ;  but  I  look  upon  him  as  their  equal 
in  crime,  and  will  stand  on  the  same  ground  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  and  perhaps  on  a  higher  scale  of 


I 

AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  353 

crime  than  any  others,  for  he  just  as  much  robs  men 
of  their  own,  as  the  pickpocket  does  when  he  slips 
his  hand  into  his  neighbor's  pocket  and  steals  his 
money  and  appropriates  it  to  his  own  use.  The 
slave  is  held  by  the  same  moral  law  to  render  faith- 
ful service  to  his  master,  not  as  a  man-pleaser,  but 
"  with  singleness  of  heart,  doing  the  will  of  God." 
His  time  righteously  belongs  to  his  master,  and  if  he 
wilfully  wastes  it,  by  neglecting  to  do  duty  to  his 
master  as  a  good  servant,  he  robs  his  master  of  what 
belongs  to  him  just  as  much  as  a  pickpocket  would 
in  stealing  another  man's  money,  and  is  equally 
guilty  before  God,  and  will  be  so  judged  by  the 
moral  law,  and  he  who  persuades  him  that  his  mas- 
ter has  no  right  to  claim  his  labors,  and  tries  to 
dissatisfy  his  mind  with  his  condition  as  a  slave,  and 
persuades  him  not  to  render  service,  is  worse  than  a 
thief,  for  he  not  only  encourages  robbing  the  master 
of 'what  belongs  to  him,  both  legally  and  morally, 
but  he  is  a  traitor  to  the  laws  of  his  country. 

How  men  professing  Christianit}r,  and  say  they  are 
called  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach  the  everlasting 
Gospel  of  God,  can  be  modern  abolitionists,  I  cannot 
understand.  I  can  well  see  how  infidels  can  be  fol- 
lowers of  Wm.  L.  Garrison,  especially  those  who 
deny  the  Bible  being  the  word  of  God,  and  know 
nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  negro ;  but  those  who 
embrace  the  Scriptures  as  the  revelation  of  God, 
know  they  have  no  right  given  them  in  that  book  to 
declare  slavery  to  be  a  sin  against  God.  Therefore 
it  is  a  new  code  of  morals  started  up  for  which 
there  is  no  warrant  given  in  the  Scriptures,  and  is  as 
30* 


354:        .  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

demoralizing  as  the  doctrine  of  Joe  Smith,  or  those 
of  the  Spiritualists;  and  all  such  have  done  ten 
times  the  mischief  to  both  church  and  state  that 
could  be  done  by  the  Mormons  or  Spiritualists. 
The  Mormons  separate  themselves  from  all  others, 
and  unite  themselves  as  a  separate  people,  and 
openly  declare  Joe  Smith  a  prophet  and  great  high 
priest ;  but  the  abolitionists  remain  in  good  society, 
and  there  promulgate  their  doctrines  of  infidelity, 
and  split  up  churches  and  good  society,  distract 
neighborhoods,  and  whole  State  Legislatures,  and 
have  now  well  nigh  destroyed  our  national  govern- 
ment, and  are  likely  to  plunge  us  into  a  civil  war 
in  the  prospect  of  which  they  now  exult,  and  say, 
better  this  should  all  take  place  a  thousand  times 
than  that  slavery  should  be  allowed  in  any  part  of 
this  country. 

It  was  and  is,  as  I  have  said  before,  a  very  com- 
mon reply  to  the  declaration  that  the  Union  was  in 
danger,  "let  the  Union  slide.1'1  There  was  no  ex- 
pression more  common  through  the  late  political 
struggle  by  republicans,  than  "  let  the  Union  slide," 
and  " I  would  see  this  Union  and  government  split  into 
a  thousand  atoms,  before  I  would  yield  one  letter  from 
the  Cliicago  platform1'1  Leading  men  of  the  aboli- 
tion stripe  did  thus  reply  whenever  they  were 
warned  of  the  infinite  danger  the  Union  was  in  by 
the  course  they  were  pursuing  in  politics. 

I  have  known  professing  Christians  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years,  who  have  been  laboring  to  obli- 
terate the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  separate  this  great  Union,  that 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  355 

the  slaves  of  the  South  might  clear  themselves  of 
their  masters ;  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel  have  pro- 
claimed those  doctrines  from  the  pulpit,  and  de- 
nounced slavery,  and  slaveholders  as  murderers  in  a 
most  vehement  and  vindictive  manner,  right  in  tho 
teeth  of  all  the  patriarchs,  prophets,  our  Saviour,  and 
the  apostles,  all  of  whom  encouraged  slavery  and 
slaveholders,  from  Noah  to  St.  Paul ;  and  Paul  never 
failed  in  a  single  instance  to  declare  the  right  of  the 
master  to  the  earnings  of  their  slaves,  and  plainly  told 
the  slaves  that  they  must  ')e  diligent  in  their  service 
to  their  masters.  That  in  so  doing  they  were  doing  ser- 
vice to  God ;  that  he  must  not  waste  his  master's  time, 
for  he  cannot  do  this  and  be  a  child  of  God,  and  not 
the  least  intimation  given  anywhere  to  the  contrary. 

I  presume  Dr.  Adam  Clarke's  opinion  will  have 
some  influence  on  most  minds,  or  ought  at  least.  He 
being  a  foreigner,  and  so  much  opposed  to  slavery, 
that  he  said  there  was  no  punishment  adequate  to 
the  sinfulness  of  slavery.  Please  examine  his  opin- 
ions at  full  length  on  all  the  following  passages  of 
Scriptures.  John  Wesley  said  some  hard  things 
against  slavery,  but  at  the  time  he  said  it,  it  is  cer- 
tain he  had  little  or  no  knowledge  of  American 
slavery,  but  had  a  full  knowledge  of  the  British 
slave  trade,  which  was  then  the  sum  of  all  villainies. 
There  is  not  a  doubt  but  Wesley  and  Clarke  both 
alluded  to  the  cruelties  of  British  slave  trade,  that 
was  not  prohibited  but  carried  on  by  that  govern- 
ment to  an  enormous  extent  at  that  time. 

For  a  long  while  after  Wesley  passed  his  terrible 
anathema  against  slavery  he  ordained  slaveholders 


356  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

in  the  West  Indies,  and  set  them  apart  for  the  min- 
istry of  Christ,  and  baptized  their  children,  know- 
ing them  to  be  slaveholders,  and  that  the  children 
would  be  heirs  to  slaves,  and  not  one  single  word 
expressed  against  it  by  Mr.  Wesley. 

Dr.  A.  Clarke,  and  all  others  whom  I  have  con- 
sulted, show  clearly  in  their  commentaries  that 
American  and  English  slavery  is  the  same  as  ex- 
isted in  the  time  of  the  apostles,  and  the  great 
probability  of  its  existence  throughout  all  time. 
But  they  do  not  attempt  to  turn  a  single  passage 
of  Scripture  to  condemn  it  as  a  moral  evil  or  sin 
against  God,  notwithstanding  their  great  personal 
opposition  to  slavery,  and  when  Dr.  Clarke  said  there 
was  no  punishment  adequate  to  the  crime  of  slavery, 
he  must  have  had  reference  to  the  British  African 
slave  trade,  and  not  to  common  slaveholding,  such 
as  is  legalized  incur  Southern  States,  and  recognized 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  No  true 
follower  of  our  Lord,  who  reads  the  New  Testament, 
and  is  capable  of  understanding  it,  will  embrace 
this  false  code  of  morals,  that  slavery  is  a  sin  against 
God  under  all  circumstances.  Mrs.  L.  Maria  Child, 
of  Wayland,  Mass.,  in  her  letter  to  Mrs.  J.  C.  Mason, 
wife  of  Senator  Mason,  of  Virginia,  herein  alluded  to, 
quoted  eighteen  passages  of  Scripture  in  reply  to, 
or  as  an  offset  to  some  very  appropriate  passages 
quoted  by  Mrs.  Mason,  in  her  letter  to  Mrs.  Child. 
Mrs.  Child  is  said  to  be  a  lady  of  uncommon  talents, 
possessing  great  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
is  held  up  as  the  great  champion  of  this  new  moral 
code  of  Garrison,  Wright,  Abe  Kelley,  and  others. 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  357 

Therefore  it  is  evident,  if  she  has  produced  nothing 
from  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  proves  slavery  to  be 
a  moral  evil,  it  cannot  be  done.    I  will  now  examine 
her  quotations  and  see  how  much  they  prove. 
She  commences  as  follows : — Ileb.  xiii.  3d. 

"  Eemember  them  that  are  in  bonds,  as  bound  with  them ; 
and  them  which  suffer  adversity,  as  being  yourselves  also  in  the 
body." 

This  certainly  has  no  reference  to  common  sla- 
very, but  refers  to  those  who  were  in  prison  for 
preaching  the  gospel  of  God  our  Saviour,  and  not 
the  slightest  allusion  to  common  legal  servitude,  or 
involuntary  labor,  for  an  individual  or  master; 
but  that  they  should  feel  for  those  in  prison  as  they 
would  have  those  to  feel  for  them  if  circumstances 
between  them  were  reversed.  I  will  refer  to  A. 
Clark  on  this  verse. 

2d  quotation,  Isa.  xvi.  3,  4  : — 

"  Take  counsel,  execute  judgment ;  make  thy  shadow  as 
the  night  in  the  midst  of  the  noonday ;  hide  the  outcast ;  be- 
wray not  him  that  wandereth. 

"  Let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with  thee,  Moab  ;  be  thou  a  co- 
vert to  them  from  the  face  of  the  spoiler :  for  the  extortioner 
is  at  an  end,  the  spoiler  ceaseth,  the  oppressors  are  consumed 
out  of  the  land." 

These  two  verses  have  not  the  slightest  allusion 
•to  slavery  as  found  in  our  Southern  States.  But 
Judah  had  been  invaded  by  the  Israelites,  and 
defeated,  slaying  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
men,  nearly  ruining  his  kingdom.  When  Judah 
began  to  recover,  -and  becoming  more  prosperous, 
he  seemed  to  be  called  upon  to  receive  and  protect 


358  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  fugitive  Moabites,  that,  perhaps,  were  scattered  in 
the  time  of  battle.  I  think  any  candid  person  will 
say  there  is  no  application  to  American  slaves  in 
this  quotation,  nor  to  fugitive  slaves  from  the  South. 
The  context  makes  the  text  quoted  clearly  some- 
thing else. 

Bd  quotation,  Deut.  xxiii.  15,  16 : — 

"  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant  which 
is  escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee.  He  shall  dwell  with 
thee  even  among  you  in  that  place  which  h6  shall  choose  in 
one  of  thy  gates  where  it  liketh  him  best :  thou  shalt  not 
oppress  him." 

This  quotation  doubtless  has  an  allusion  to  some 
sort  of  slavery. .  Dr.  A.  Clarke  says  this  "is  a  servant 
who  left  an  idolatrous  master,  that  he  might  join 
himself  to  God  and  his  people.  In  any  other  case  it 
would  have  been  injustice  to  have  harbored  the  runatvay" 
It  is  clearly  set  forth  in  Scripture  that  a  legal  owner 
of  a  slave  has  a  moral  right  to  claim  his  service 
anywhere,  and  ought  not  to  be  prevented  from 
taking  him  back  to  where  the  law  made  him  a  slave, 
and  any  laws  passed  by  the  free  States  to  prevent 
a  man  from  another  State  recovering  his  slave  that 
has  run  away,  is  a  crime.  We  have  just  as  good 
a  right  to  pass  a  law  making  it  legal  to  take 
every  Southern  man's  money  from  him  that  comes 
into  our  midst,  and  appropriate  it  to  our  own  use ; 
or  seize  their  vessels  and  appropriate  them  to  our- 
selves, or  to  protect  a  mob  in  doing  it,  as  we 
have  to  protect  them  in  rescuing  a  fugitive  slave 
from  his  legal  owner  or  his  agent.  The  several 


AFUICAN  SLAVERY. 

quotations  I  have  made  from  St.  Paul's  letters  to 
the  churches  make  this  clear. 

4th  quotation,  Prov.  xxxi.  8-9: — 

"  Open  thy  mouth  for  the  dumb  in  the  cause  of  all  such  as 
are  appointed  to  destruction.  Open  thy  mouth,  judge  righte- 
ously, and  plead  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy." 

Those  verses,  perhaps,  allude  to  poor  persons  ac- 
cused of  crime,  who  have  not  the  language  to  plead 
their  own  cause,  nor  the  money  to  pay  counsel.  And 
no  application  to  American  slavery  can  be  drawn 
from  it  by  any  course  of  reasoning  whatever;  for 
the  slaves  of  the  South  are  not  oppressed,  nor 
"dumb,"  nor  "appointed  to  destruction,"  neither  are 
they  "  poor  and  needy." 

5th  quotation,  Isa.  Iviii.  1 : — 

"  Cry  aloud,  spare  not ;  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet, 
and  show  my  people  their  transgression,  and  the  house  of  Ja- 
cob their  sins." 

This  verse  is  also  foreign  to  the  subject,  and  con- 
tains no  allusion  whatever  to  the  subject  matter  in 
dispute. 

6th  quotation,  Col.  iv.  1.  I  will  refer  the  reader  to 
what  I  have  said  on  this  text,  in  Chapter  II.  of  this 
book. 

7th  quotation,  I  think  will  satisfy  the  reader  that 
Mrs.  Child  was  not  honest,  and  has  undertaken  to 
do  what  she  knew  she  could  not  do,  that  is,  to  sup- 
port a  bad  cause  by  the  Holy  Scriptures.  She 
quotes  from  Matt,  xxiii.  8th  and  10th.  Why  did  she 
not  quote  the  9th  also  ?  I  will  quote  the  8th,  9th, 
and  10th,  and  every  reader  will  see  clearly  why  she 
left  the  9th  out. 


360  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

"  8th.  But  be  ye  not  called  Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  Master, 
even  Christ ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren. 

"  9th.  And  call  no  man  your  father  upon  the  earth  :  for  one 
is  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven. 

"  10th.  Neither  be  ye  called  masters  :  for  one  is  your  Mas- 
ter, even  Christ." 

I  think  comment  on  the  above  is  not  necessary, 
for  every  reader  will  see  that  there  is  no  reference 
to  common  American  slavery,  and  the  teaching  of 
our  Lord  in  the  above  verses  has  no  allusion  to  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave,  but  to  the  Head  of  the 
Church ;  that  he  himself  is  the  Head,  and  no  one 
else  can  be,  and  it  would  be  treasonable  for  any  one 
else  to  attempt  to  place  himself  there.  Therefore 
they  are  forbid  calling  any  one  master  besides  Christ 
himself. 

Why  did  Mrs.  Child  quote  the  8th  and  10th 
verses  of  the  above  chapter,  leaving  out  the  9th? 
Simply  because  in  the  9th  we  are  forbidden  to  call 
any  one  our  father  upon  the  earth,  because  we  have 
a  Father  in  Heaven,  which  is  Christ  Jesus.  How 
perfectly  ridiculous  it  would  be  for  us  to  forbid  our 
children  calling  us  father,  because  of  the  language 
of  our  Lord  in  the  9th  verse,  and  it  is  just  as  ridicu- 
lous to  say  a  slave  should  not  agree  that  his  owner 
is  his  master,  and  therefore  refuse  to  call  him  mas- 
ter ;  and  Mrs.  Child  has  just  as  good  a  right  to  for- 
bid the  relation  of  parents  and  children  under  the 
moral  law  of  the  9th  verse,  as  she  has  to  forbid  the 
relationjrf  master  and  slave,  because  of  the  precept 
contained  in  the  8th  and  10th  verses.  And  from 
those  three  verses  it  would  be  just  as  consistent  with 
common  sense  or  moral  law,  to  establish  a  party  or 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  861 

association  to  prevent  parents  from  controlling  their 
children,  or  to  run  the  child  off  on  an  underground 
railroad  from  his  or  her  parents,  as  it  is  to  oppose 
the  relation  of  master  and  slave  from  anything  con- 
tained in  the  above  quotation. 

Children  are  held  as  the  property  of  their  parents 
by  the  civil  law,  and  if  there  was  not  a  civil  law 
giving  the  parents  the  full  control  of  their  children 
until  they  are  twenty-one  years  old,  they  could  not 
compel  them  to  remain  with  them  for  any  period. 
In  this  country  the  age  is  fixed  at  twenty-one  years 
for  the  parents  to  have  full  control  of  their  children. 
In  Spain  I  think  the  law  fixes  the  maturity  of  the 
child  at  twenty-five  years ;  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken 
in  some  countries  they  are  held  by  the  civil  law 
under  the  control  of  the  parents  a  much  longer 
period.  The  right  of  the  parents  to  control  their 
children  and  put  their  earnings  in  their  own  pocket, 
is  sustained  by  the  moral  law,  as  well  as  the  civil, 
and  I  believe  by  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
earth ;  and  I  don't  know  any  association  that  has 
ever  been  formed  to  oppose  the  moral  and  legal 
claim  of  the  parent  to  the  child  during  his  mino- 
rity. 

Yet  the  9th  verse  above,  according  to  Mrs.  Child's 
reasoning,  forbids  the  lawful  relation  of  parent  and 
child,  and  that  the  child  should  not  call  any  man 
his  father ;  or  in  other  words,  should  not  submit  to 
the  government  of  its  parents ;  for  this  doctrine  is 
just  as  fully  taught  in  the  9th  verse  as  'the  anti- 
slavery  doctrine  is  in  the  8th  and  10th  verses.  For 
slaves  are  held  by  the  same  human  laws  to  the  mas- 
31 


362  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

ters  that  children  are  to  parents.  And  if  the  doc- 
trine of  the  abolitionist  is  sustained  in  the  8th  and 
10th  verses,  then  no  parent  can,  under  the  moral  law, 
sustain  a  claim  upon  his  children.  And  according 
to  the  abolition  creed  and  teachings,  no  civil  law 
should  be  respected  when  that  law  interferes  with 
the  liberties  of  any  part  of  the  human  race. 
8th  quotation,  Matt.  vii.  12  : — 

"  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets." 

I  don't  know  that  I  ever  held  a  conversation  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  with  an  anti-slavery  man  who 
did  not  boastingly  quote  this  passage  from  our 
Lord's  exhortation.  This  certainly  is  one  of  the 
most  sublime  precepts  of  the  whole  gospel  code; 
and  if  every  man  would  only  take  it  upon  himself 
to  follow  it,  or  be  governed  by  it,  troubles  and 
disputes  between  men  would  be  at  an  end,  and  the 
South  would  not  be  under  the  necessity  of  making 
laws  to  prevent  the  abolitionists  from  stealing  their 
slaves,  which  would  be  a  most  glorious  achievement 
for  this  whole  country. 

The  meaning  of  this  text  is  obvious  to  every  un- 
prejudiced mind;  and  every  slave-holder  would  be 
willing  to  enter  into  a  covenant  with  all  modern 
abolitionists  to  keep  this  precept  to  the  strictest 
letter.  But  abolitionists  seem  to  think  that  they 
are  not  bound  by  this  precept,  and  that  it  is  a  rule 
that  only  works  one  way,  and  seem  to  forget,  while 
they  require  the  masters  to  set  their  slaves  all  free 
under  this  precept,  that  the  masters  are  calling  upon 


AFRICAN   SLAVERY. 

the  North  under  the  same  rule  to  let  them  alone. 
There  is  only  one  rule  to  explain  this  passage,  and 
that  is  as  follows  : — "  Do  as  you  would  be  done  by." 

In  order  to  decide  righteously  on  this,  you  must 
reverse  your  circumstances  and  place  yourself  en- 
tirely where  the  slave-holder  is,  with  all  the  con- 
comitant circumstances  through  which  he  became, 
and  still  is,  a  slave-holder,  and  then  ask  yourself 
the  question,  how  would  you  have  Northern  abolition- 
ists to  treat  you  on  the  subject.  This  is  the  only 
righteous  rule  by  which  we  can  come  to  a  righteous 
application  of  this  text. 

This  brilliant  precept  of  our  Lord  ought  to  silence 
every  true  follower  of  His  on  this  negro  question, 
except  those  who,  after  having  reversed  situations 
with  the  slave-holder  as  above,  and  then  makes  up 
his  mind  that  he  would  have  the  abolitionists  to  call 
him  a  thief/  robber,  and  murderer,  and  run  his 
slaves  off  to  Canada  on  the  underground  railroad  by 
$10,000  worth  at  a  time.  Even  then  that  man  has 
not  the  right,  according  to  this  precept,  to  call  all 
the  slave-owners  robbers,  thieves,  and  murderers, 
and  to  steal  the  slaves  away  from  their  masters,  and 
then  let  them  starve  and  die  among  strangers,  be- 
cause it  would  not  be  a  reversion  of  circumstances 
as  they  are.  I  think  all  holiest  unbiassed  minds  will 
agree  with  me  on  this  quotation. 

I  will  respectfully  refer  Mrs.  Child  and  her 
followers  to  the  first  five  verses  of  this  chapter,  and 
hope  they  may  be  read  with  prayerful  hearts. 

Quotation  9th,  Isa.  Iviii.  6  : — 

"  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  to  loose  the  bands 


364  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens  and  to  let  the  op- 
pressed go  free,  and  that  ye  break  every  yoke  ?" 

Dr.  A.  Clarke  says  this  verse  alludes  to  the  slave 
trade ;  but  I  cannot  see  any  allusion  to  that  business ; 
for  I  do  not  believe  a  greater  crime  can  be  com- 
mitted than  to  buy  human  beings,  and  drive  them 
through,  the  country  like  cattle,  and  sell  them 
among  strangers,  without  respect  to  the  treatment 
they  may  receive.  I  believe  men  will  be  held 
responsible  at  the  bar  of  God  for  all  such  crimes. 
When  a  man  has  more  slaves  than  he  can  make 
useful  to  himself,  it  is  his  religious  duty  to  choose  a 
master  for  that  servant,  with  the  same  care  he  would 
for  his  own  child  that  he  wanted  to  send  away  to 
learn  a  trade.  He  should  know  the  man  to  be  a 
good  man  to  his  servants.  And  if  he  sells  his  negro 
to  whoever  shall  give  the  most  for  him,  without 
respect  to  his  future  welfare,  he  will  be  held  respon- 
sible to  his  Maker  in  the  great  day  of  accounts. 
The  servant's  future  welfare  should  be  looked  to, 
and  not  the  highest  price  that  could  be  got. 

I  believe  this  verse  has  reference  to  the  moral 
conduct  of  the  Jewish  nation;  they  made  loud  profes* 
sions  in  public  that  they  did  not  practise  in  private, 
and  they  were  very  overbearing  and  selfish.  They 
perhaps  taxed  the  people*  more  than  they  were  able 
to  pay,  and  binding  burdens,  and  laying  them  on 
other  men's  shoulders,  too  intolerable  to  be  borne, 
such  as  they  were  not  willing  to  touch  with  the  end 
of  their  finger.  And  no  doubt  they  extorted  duties 
from  surrounding  tribes,  over  whom  they  had,  by 
supreme  power,  extended  their  government,  that 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  365 

was  more  than  they  could  pay.  The  slave  trade 
could  not  have  been  included  in  this  precept. 

Every  American  who  has  read  the  Declaration  of 
our  Independence,  will  have  some  idea  of  oppression, 
and  the  opium  war  between  England  and  China 
some  few  years  ago  will  have  some  idea  of  the  bonds 
of  wickedness  alluded  to  in  this  verse. 

Quotation  Wth,  Joel  iii.  3. 

"  And  they  have  cast  lots  for  my  people  ;  and  have  given  a 
boy  for  a  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl  for  wine,  that  they  might 
drink." 

This  verse  certainly  has  reference  to  treatment  to 
the  Jews  while  in  captivity.  Their  sons  and 
daughters  were  traded  off  for  wine  and  necessaries 
of  life,  and  they  were  used  for  the  most  'brutal  pur- 
poses. It  has  no  reference  to  common  slavery  of  the 
Africans. 

Quotation  11th,  Prov.  xiv.  31. 

"  He  that  oppresseth  the  poor,  reproacheth  his  Maker ;  but 
he  that  honoreth  him  hath  mercy  on  the  poor." 

This  verse  is  so  foreign  from  the  question  at  issue, 
that  I  am  surprised  that  Mrs.  Child  should  have 
quoted  it.  The  slaves  in  the  southern  States  are  not 
oppressed ;  they  are  fed  and  clothed,  and  the  hap- 
piest people  I  have  ever  seen,  and  have  no  concern 
about  the  future  of  this  world  whatever.  Their 
masters  attend  to  all  their  business  for  them,  and 
feed  and  clothe  them.  They  are  not  oppressed,  for 
they  want  nothing.  But  he  who  persuades  the 
slaves  to  run  away  from  their  masters  is  a  thief  and 
an  oppressor  of  the  poor  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word ;  and  he  that  winks  at  it  is  no  better. 


366  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Quotation  12th,  Prov.  xx.  22,  23. 

"Say  not  thou  I  will  recompense  evil;  but  wait  on  the  Lord, 
and  he  shall  save  thce. 

23.  Divers  weights  are  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord,  and  a 
Mse  balance  is  not  good." 

Whatever  Mrs.  Child  sees  in  this  quotation  to 
condemn  slavery  or  slaveholders  she  can  enjoy  it ; 
I  can  see  nothing  touching  the  subject  whatever. 
But  1  would  advise  Mrs.  Child  to  be  careful  that 
she  does  not  make  out  a  false  balance  in  her  own 
favor,  for  such  things  are  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord. 

Quotation  13th,  Jer.  xii.  13. 

"  They  have  sown  wheat,  but  shall  reap  thorns  ;  they  have 
put  themselves  to  pain,  but  shall  not  profit.  And  they  shall 
be  ashamed  of  your  revenues,  because  of  the  fierce  anger  of  the 
Lord." 

This  verse  is  quoted  also  to  condemn  slaveholding, 
but  I  think  the  reader  will  see  that  it  condemns  the 
abolitionists  just  as  much  as  it  does  slaveholders 
and  a  great  deal  more. 

Quotation  l±th,  Eph.  iv.  28. 

"Let  him  that  stole  steal  no  more  ;  but  rather  let  him  labor, 
working  with  his  hands  the  thing  which  is  good,  that  he  may 
have  to  give  to  him  that  needeth." 

I  think  Mrs.  Child  ought  to  call  the  attention  of 
all  the  underground  railroad  companies  to  this  text, 
and  urge  the  Christ-like  precept  home  to  their  every 
heart ;  for  if  she  can  prevail  upon  all  people,  white 
and  colored,  male  and  female,  North  and  South,  to 
respect  this  text,  we  shall  have  but  little  trouble  on 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

the  slave  question.     Eemember  that  man  stealing  is 
a  great  crime  against  God. 
Quotation  15th,  Isa.  x.  1,  2. 

"  Wo  unto  them  that  decree  unrighteous  decrees,  and  that 
write  grievousness  which  they  have  prescribed, 

2.  To  turn  aside  the  needy  from  judgment,  and  to  take  away 
from  the  poor  of  my  people,  that  widows  may  be  their  prey, 
and  that  they  may  rob  the  fatherless." 

Those  verses,  no  doubt,  allude  •  to  certain  laws 
made  for  extortion.  "Unrighteous  decrees  and 
grievous  writings"  has  reference  to  taking  the  labor- 
ing classes  or  surrounding  tribes,  that  had  been 
overpowered  and  made  subjects,  and  then  taxed 
them  more  than  they  were  able  to  pay,  which  is 
condemned  throughout  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but 
it  is  a  very  different  thing  from  American  slavery. 
A  slave  gets  more  for  his  work  than  any  other  la- 
borers, generally ;  he  has  his  board  and  clothes,  and 
a  house  to  live  in,  and  his  doctor's  bills  are  all  paid. 
His  wages  goes  on  while  sick,  even  his  nurse  is  paid, 
and  all  his  tobacco  bills,  and  taxes  by  his  master ; 
and  he  gets  all  this  for  doing  about  one-half  the 
work  that  any  white  man  does  that  works  at  all ; 
and  it  is  no  matter  if  he  (the  slave)  has  a  wife  and 
ten  children,  they  are  all  supported  by  the  master, 
and  he  does  not  have  to  work  one  minute  more  on 
their  account,  and  he  takes  "  no  thought  for  to-mor- 
row," and  has  no  concern  about  the  future.  He  is 
not  called  upon  to  provide  for  winter  or  lay  up  for 
sickness.  The  only  concern  he  has  is  to  prepare  for 
death  and  judgment,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  many  thousands  are  laying  up  for  themselves  a 


368  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

very  large  fortune,  where  it  cannot  be  taken  from 
them.  I  will  repeat  that  they  are  the  happiest  peo- 
ple I  have  ever  seen.  But  oppressive  rulers  will 
have  a  large  account  to  settle  some  day,  and  that  is 
the  class  alluded  to  in  the  above  quotation.  They 
taxed  them  more  than  they  were  able  to  pay,  and 
many  times,  under  all  such  oppressive  laws,  their 
personal  tax  takes  nearly  all  the  man's  earnings,  and 
he  is  left  without  support  to  his  family.  There  is 
no  such  oppression  in  our  southern  States.  But  if 
abolitionists  ever  get  the  power,  we  shall  learn  by 
sad  experience  the  meaning  of  this  text. 
Quotation  IQth,  Job  xxx.  13,  14  : — 

"  They  mar  my  path,  they  set  forward  my  calamity,  they 
have  no  helper. 

"  They  came  upon  me  as  'a  wide  breaking  in  of  waters  ;  in 
the  desolation  they  rolled  themselves  upon  me." 

These  verses  had  reference  to  war,  no  doubt, 
either  to  cutting  off  retreat,  or  obliterating  the 
guides  for  an  attack.  The  14th  has  reference  to  a 
besieged  city,  a  storm,  fight  or  slaughter.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  allusion  to  slavery  such  as  is  found 
in  our  Southern  States. 

Quotation  17  th,  Job  xxii.  9,  10,  11 : — 

"  Thou  hast  sent  widows  away  empty,  and  the  arms  of  the 
fatherless  have  been  broken. 

"  Therefore  snares  are  around  about  thce,  and  sudden  fear 
troubleth  thee ; 

"Or  darkness  that  thou  canst  not  see;  and  abundance  of 
waters  cover  thee." 

I  think  these  verses  have  a  strong  allusion  to  dis- 
honesty or  hardness  of  heart,  and  would  bear 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

much  harder  upon  the  conduct  of  the  underground 
railroad  company,  than  upon  a  large  majority  of  the 
slave-holders.     There  is  nothing  in  the  three  verses 
that  condemns  slavery,  or  slave-holding. 
Quotation  18th,  James  v.  4 : — 

"  Behold  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have  reaped  down 
your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth :  and 
the  cries  of  them  which  have  reaped  are  entered  into  the  ears 
of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth." 

The  precept  in  this  verse  is  a  good  one ;  it  has 
reference  to  laborers,  and  clearly  sets  forth  that  it  is 
not  honest  to  hire  a  man,  and  after  he  has  done 
your  work,  to  withhold  his  wages.  This  is  a  sin  of 
the  worst  kind.  But  a  slave  is  not  meant,  for  he 
gets  the  worth  of  his  labor.  If  you  pay  the  volun- 
tary laborer  all  off  at  the  end  of  every  day,  the  four- 
fifths  of  them  have  to  limit  themselves  in  all  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  the  larger  the  family  the 
smaller  the  allowance,  and  a  large  majority  of  them 
cannot  satisfy  their  wants,  and  with  this  they  have 
constant  fear  of  being  thrown  out  of  work,  and  their 
wives  and  children  left  to  starve.  But  not  so  with 
slave  laborers.  They  do  not  have  to  limit  them- 
selves in  food,  they  have  no  fear  of  being  out  of 
employ,  and  it  is  no  matter  whether  they  have  a 
wife  and  twenty  children,  or  no  wife  and  no  child- 
ren, their  concern  about  this  world  is  the  same. 
Their  bread  is  sure,  and  their  pay  certain. 

I  think  it  will  be  admitted  that  Mrs.  Child  was 
driven  to  some  extreme  for  Scripture,  to  have  made 
those  quotations.  To  say  the  most  of  them,  but 
little  could  be  got  out  of  them  that  has  any  refer- 


370  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

ence  whatever  to  the  matter  in  dispute.  They  bare 
on  all  alike,  they  are  general  terms  and  not  special. 
Mrs.  Child  is  said  to  possess  a  talent  far  above 
mediocrity,  and  yet  she  has  not  produced  one  single 
passage  that  proves  slavery  (in  the  abstract)  to  be  a 
moral  evil.  Her  friends  say  she  is  fully  conversant 
with  the  Scriptures  from  the  beginning  to  the  end ; 
yet  after  all  her  boast  jof  "favorite  passages  of 
Scripture"  to  abstain  abolitionists,  she  has  produced 
the  above  eighteen  passages,  and  there  is  only  one 
or  two  of  them  that  has  any  reference  to  slavery 
whatever,  and  according  to  the  best  authorities  they 
just  as  much  prove  that  it  is  wrong  to  hire  a  man, 
and  pay  him  his  hire  in  silver,  as  it  does  to  own 
African  negroes,  and  give  them  all  the  necessaries 
of  this  life ;  and  it  proves  no  more.  So  clear  are 
the  Scriptures  on  this  subject  that  hundreds  of  ex- 
treme abolitionists  have  rejected  them  entirely,  be- 
cause they  do.  not  condemn  slavery. 

It  is  clear  from  the  New  Testament,  that  the 
Christian  church  is  not  to  interfere  with  civil  ques- 
tions. Her  mission  is  to  point  out  the  ways  of  ttuth 
and  righteousness,  and  make  men  as  happy  in  this 
world  as  circumstances  will  permit,  and  to  show 
them  the  way  to  eternal  glory.  Therefore  our  Lord 
refused  to  decide  civil  questions,  as  in  Matt.  xxii. 
15th-22d.  The  Pharisees  took  council  how  they 
might  entangle  our  Lord,  by  getting  him  to  decide  a 
question  that  did  not  belong  to  the  Christian  church 
that  was  maturing  at  that  moment.  Whether  they 
knew  the  effect  of  getting  him  entangled  in  State 
matters  or  not,  the  great  wicked  spirit  did  know 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  871 

that  it  would  overthrow  the  mission  of  the  Saviour 
of  the  world ;  and  our  Lord  knowing  that,  he  care- 
fully avoided  giving  his  opinion  on  the  subject. 

"  The  Pharisees  sent  unto  him  their  disciples  with  the  Hero- 
dians,  saying,  Master,  we  know  that  Thou  art  true,  and  teach- 
est  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  neither  carest  Thou  for  any  man: 
for  Thou  regardest  not  the  person  of  man.  Tell  us  therefore, 
What  thinkest  Thou  ?  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Cesar, 
or  not  ?  But  Jesus  perceived  fheir  wickedness,  and  said,  why 
tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites?  Show  me  the  tribute  money. 
And  they  brought  unto  him  a  penny.  And  he  said  unto  them 
Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription  ?  They  s'ay  unto  him 
Cesar's.  Then  saith  he  unto  them,  render,  therefore,  unto 
Cesar  the  things  which  are  Cesar's ;  and  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's." 

Now  it  seems  clear  to  my  mind  that  our  Lord 
refused  to  answer  this  question  directly,  to  show  us 
that  the  church  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
civil  institutions,  that  do  not  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  conscience,  and  allow  all  men  to  worship  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  their  own  judgments. 
And  so  far  as  I  have  learned,  the  masters  of  the 
Southern  slaves  have  not  at  any  time  attempted  to 
control  the  conscience  of  their  slaves,  or  forbid  them 
to  serve  the  Lord,  in  their  own  way ;  and  a  large 
majority  of  the  masters  pay  liberally  to  have  the 
gospel  preached  to  their  slaves  each  week ;  and  I 
believe  they  are  not  charged  with  dictating  to  their 
conscience,  and  the  slaves  are  not  required  to  work 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  are  taught  that  they  should 
worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience. 

I  will  refer  the  reader  to  Paul's  Epistle  to  Phile- 


372  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

raon,  and  I  hope  Mrs.  Child  and  all  other  abolitionists 
will  read  the  whole  chapter  with  attention. 

It  seems  that  while  Paul  was  imprisoned  in  Eome 
for  preaching  Christ,  he  did  not  cease  to  preach  the 
gospel ;  and  under  his  preaching,  a  servant  by  the 
name  of  Onesimus  was  converted  by  Paul,  and  be- 
coming a  true  child  of  God,  he  made  it  known  to 
his  spiritual  father,  "  St.  Paul,"  that  he  was  a  fugi- 
tive slave  from  the  service  of  one  Philemon.  Onesi- 
mus became  a  great  comforter  to  St.  Paul,  after  his 
(Onesimus)  conversion.  Yet  as  soon  as  Paul  learned 
that  Onesimus  was  a  fugitive  slave,  and  had  a 
Christian  master,  he  rested  not  until  he  got  Onesi- 
mus off  to  his  master  Philemon,  with  the  epistle 
alluded  to;  though  he  needed  Onesimus  much  to 
wait  on  him,  but  he  could  not  consent  to  keep  him 
there  without  his  master's  ("  Philemon")  permission. 
Therefore  he  started  him  with  the  letter  to  his  mas- 
ter, and  by  that  letter  he  intercedes  between  Phile- 
mon and  his  fugitive  servant  Onesimus,  thereby  to 
get  Philemon  to  pardon  his  servant,  and  if  he  would 
do  so,  and  take  him  back  to  his  service,  he  (Paul) 
would  pay  for  whatever  Onesimus  might  have 
taken  from  his  master  previous  to  his  -flight.  See 
18th  verse.  "  If  he  hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee 
aught,  put  that  on  mine  account." 

How  does  this  contrast  with  modern  abolitionism, 
the  underground  railroad,  the  negro  female  con- 
ductor, and  the  Boston  congregation  alluded  to  in  a 
previous  chapter. 

In  reference  to  the  church,  I  think  this  epistle 
does  settle  the  question,  and  clearly  demonstrates 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  373 

that  the  church  has  nothing  to  do  with  slavery,  only 
to  see  that  her  members,  if  slaves,  should  be  faithful 
to  their  masters,  and  the  masters  to  their  slaves. 
The  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  are  too  clear 
to  be  misunderstood,  and  I  believe  every  good  man, 
who  seeks  for  truth  only,  will  understand  it  so ;  and 
instead  of  making  trouble  between  master  and  slave 
and  running  the  slaves  off  on  the  underground 
railroad,  and  persuading  them  to  steal  their  master's 
property,  or  kill  him  if  necessary  to  make  their 
escape,  will  teach  the  slaves  how  they  should  best 
serve  their  masters,  and  be  the  most  useful  to  them ; 
that  they  cannot  be  true  Christians,  and  wilfully 
neglect  one  duty  to  their  masters.  This  was  left  on 
record  by  St.  Paul ;  therefore  he  who  teacheth  other- 
wise is  an  infidel ;  and  I  think  I  have  proved  satis- 
factorily to  every  candid  Christian  man  and  woman 
that  every  circumstance  connected  with  the  African 
race  down  to  the  present  day,  fully  sustains  the 
preaching  of  St.  Paul  and  proves  that  the  descend- 
ants of  Canaan  were  to  be  slaves  or  subordinates 
through  all  time,  from  Noah's  declaration  after  the 
flood,  over  4200  years  ago,  that  Canaan  should  be  a 
"  servant  of  servants  to  his  brethren." 

APPENDIX. 

I  WAS  charged  with  deception  soon  after  the  John 
Brown  raid  in  Virginia,  for  my  opinions,  and  was 
called  a  fool  when  I  said  the  success  of  the  aboli- 
tionists to  national  power  would  produce  a  civil  war 
in  this  country,  and  destroy  the  Union  of  States. 
32 


374  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

This  I  said  in  the  winter  of  '59-  and  '60.  How 
stands  the  matter  on  this  the  first  day  of  October 
1862  ?  I  add  this  little  appendix  merely  as  a  re- 
membrancer. I  am  not  disappointed  in  the  result, 
neither  do  I  think  anybody  else  is  who  had  given 
human  nature  and  abolitionism  an  impartial  study. 

I  will  now  close  this  volume  by  giving  two  letters 
from  the  pen  of  the  Hon.  Wm/Bigler  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  was  called  upon  in  writing,  by  a  number 
of  his  constituents,  for  the  information  given  in  the 
letters;  I  hope  they  may  be  examined  with  scruti- 
nizing attention,  for  they  are  written  by  one  who 
knew  the  facts. 


LETTER    I. 

CLEARFIELD,  September  29,  1862. 

GKNTLEME.V  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter,  and  with  plea- 
sure proceed  to  comply  with  your  request.  In  doing  this  I 
.shall  endeavor  to  be  brief,  though  it  must  be  obvious  that  any 
thing  like  a  full  history  of  the  proceedings  of  the  United 
States  Senate  on  the  resolutions  familiarly  known  as  the 
Crittenden  Compromise,  and  the  occurrences  incident  thereto, 
cannot  be  compressed  into  a  very  short  story. 

You  can  all  bear  me  witness  that  in  the  addresses  I  have 
made  to  the  people,  since  my  retiracy  from  the  Senate  I  have 
not  sought  to  press  th>s  subject  on  their  consideration  in  any 
party  light — I  have  hold  that  the  government  and  country 
must  be  saved,  no  matter  whose  folly  and  madness  had  im- 
perilled them — that  we  should  first  extinguish  the  flames  that 
are  consuming  our  national  fabric,  and  afterwards  look  up  and 
punish  the  iucendiary  who  applied  the  torch ;  but  as  the 
subject  has  been  brought  before  the  community  by  a  distin- 
guished member  of  the  Republican  part)7,  for  partisan  ends, 
and  statements  made  inconsistent  with  the  record,  it  is 
eminently  proper  that  the  facts— at  least  all  the  essential  facts 
— should  be  given  to  the  public. 

It  is  not  true  that,  some  republican  members  of  the  Senate 
supported  the  "  Crittenden  Compromise"  and  some  opposed  it. 


AFRICAN  SLAVEITY.  375 

They  opposed  it  throughout,  and  without  an  exception.  Their 
efforts  to  defeat  it  were  in  the  usual  shape  of  postponements 
and  amendments,  and  it  was  not  till  within  a  few  hours  of  the 
close  of  the  session  that  a  direct  vote  was  had  on  the  proposi- 
tion itself. 

On  the  14th  of  January  they  cast  a  united  vote  against  its 
consideration,  and  on  the  15th  they  did  the  same  thing,  in  order 
to  consider  the  Pacific  railroad  bill. 

But  the  first  test  vote  was  had  on  the  17th  day  of  January, 
on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Clark,  of  New  Hampshire,  to  strike  out 
the  Crittenden  proposition  and  insert  certain  resolutions  of 
his  own,  the  only  object  manifestly  being  the  defeat  of  the 
former.  The  yeas  and  nays  on  this  vote  were  as  follows  : — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Anthony,  Baker,  Bingham,  Cameron,  Chan- 
dler, Clark,  Collamer,  Dixon,  Doolittle,  Dirkee,  Fessenden, 
Foot,  Foster,  Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  King,  Seward,  Simmons, 
Sumner,  Ten  Eyck,  Trumbull,  Wade,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson 
—25. 

Nays — Messrs.  Bayard,  Bigler,  Bragg,  Bright,  Clingman, 
Crittenden,  Fitch,  Green,  Lane,  Latham,  Mason,  Nicholson, 
Pearce,  Polk,  Powell,  P»gh,  Rice,  Saulsbury,  and  Sebastian 
23. 

So  Mr.  Clark's  amendment  prevailed,  and  the  Crittenden 
proposition  was  defeated.  On  the  announcement  of  this  re- 
sult the  whole  subject  was  laid  on  the  table. 

This  was  the  vote  on  which  some  six  or  eight  Senators 
from  the  Cotton  States  withheld  their  votes,  and  of  this  I  shall 
speak  hereafter. 

It  is  true  that,  within  a  few  hours  after  these  proceedings, 
as  though  alarmed  about  the  consequences  of  what  had  been 
done,  Senator  Cameron  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote 
by  which  the  Crittenden  proposition  had  been  defeated. 

This  motion  came  up  for  consideration  on  the  18th,  and  to 
the  amazement  of  everybody  not  in  the  secret,  Senator  Came- 
ron voted  against  his  own  motion,  and  was  joined  by  every 
other  Senator  of  his  party.  The  vote  is  recorded  on  p.  433  of 
1st  vol.  Congressional  Globe,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

Yeas — Messrs.  Bayard,  Bigler,  Bragg,  Bright,  Clingman, 
Crittenden,  Douglas,  Fitch,  Green,  Gwin,  Hunter,  Johnson  of 
Arkansas,  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  Kennedy,  Lane,  Latham, 
Mason,  Nicholson,  Pearce,  Polk,  Powell,  Pugh,  Rice,  Sauls- 
bury,  Sebastian,  and  Slidell — 27. 

Nays — Messrs.  Anthony,  Baker,  Bingham,  CAMERON,  Chan- 
dler, Clark,  Collamer,  Dixon,  Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Foot,  Fos- 
ter, Grimes,  Hale,  Harlan,  King,  Soward,  Simmons,  Sumner, 
Ten  Eyck,  Wade,  Wigfall,  Wilkinson,  and  Wilson— 24. 

This  vote  was  regarded  by  many  as  conclusive  against  the 


376  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Crittenden  proposition,  for  the  reason  that  the  Republican 
Senators,  after  full  deliberation  and  consultation,  had  cast  a 
united  vote  against  it.  I  shall  never  forget  the  appearance 
and  bearing  of  that  venerable  patriot,  John  J.  Crittenden,  on 
the  announcement  of  this  result.  His  heart  seemed  full  to 
overflowing  with  grief,  and  his  countenance  bore  the  unmis- 
takable marks  of  anguish  and  despair.  The  motion  of 
Senator  Cameron  to  reconsider  had  inspired  him  with  hope — 
strong  hope  ;  but  the  united  vote  of  the  Republican  Senators 
against  his  proposition  showed  him  too  clearly  that  his  efforts 
were  vain.  • 

The  final  vote  was  taken  directly  on  agreeing  to  the  Crit- 
tenden proposition  on  the  3d  of  March — one  day  before  the 
final  adjournment  of  Congress — and  is  recorded  on  p.  1405  of 
the  Congressional  Globe,  second  part.  On  this  vote  every 
Democrat  and  every  southern  Senator  (including  Mr.  Wigfetl, 
who  voted  against  the  reconsideration  of  Mr.  Clark's  amend- 
ment), voted  for  the  proposition,  and  every  Republican 
against  it. 

As  for  the  Cotton  State  Senators  who  withheld  their  votes 
on  the  16th  of  January,  so  that  Mr.  Clark's  amendment  might 
prevail,  I  have  certainly  no  apology  to  make  for  their  mis- 
chievous and  wicked  conduct  on  that  or  any  other  occasion, 
but  if  they  are  blameworthy  for  withholding  their  votes,  and 
not  sustaining  the  Crittenden  proposition,  what  shall  we  say  of 
the  Republican  Senators  who,  at  the  same  time,  cast  a  solid 
vote  against  it,  as  I  have  already  shown  ?  It  was  no  half  way 
business  with  them — they  aimed  directly  at  its  final  defeat. 
Some  of  the  southern  Senators,  on  the  other  hand,  who  had 
withheld  their  votes  on  the  16th  (Messrs.  Slidell,  Hemphill, 
and  Johnson  of  Arkansas),  by  the  18th  had  repented  their 
error,  and  cast  their  votes  to  reconsider  and  revive  the  Com- 

Eromise  proposition ;   but  the  Republicans  persisted  in  their 
ostility  to  the  end. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  the  votes  of  the  Cotton  State  Senators 
with  those  of  all  the  other  southern  Senators,  and  those  of  all 
the  northern  Democrats,  could  have  saved  and  secured  the 
Crii  tendcn  Compromise.  They  could  have  given  it  a  majority, 
but  everybody  knows  that  the  Constitution  requires  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  to  submit  amendments  to  the  Constitution  for  the 
ratification  of  the  States.  These  could  not  be  had  without 
eight  or  ten  Republican  votes.  But  suppose  the  Constitution 
did  not  so  require — what  could  it  have  availed  to  have  adopted 
a  settlement  by  a  mere  party  vote  ?  It  was  a  compromise  be- 
tween the  two  sections  that  the  exigencies  required.  The 
Republican  was  the  dominant  party  in  the  North,  and  no  com- 
promise or  adjustment  could  be  successful,  either  in  the 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  377 

Senate  or  before  the  people,  without  their  active  support. 
They  constituted  one  of  the  parties  to  the  issue,  and  it  would 
have  been  folly — worse  than  folly — to  have  attempted  a  set- 
tlement without  their  sanction  and  support  before  the  country. 

But  no  one  can  misunderstand  the  real  object  of  the  Re- 
publican orators  in  parading  the  fact  that  six  or  eight  South- 
ern Senators  had,  at  one  time,  withheld  their  votes  from  the 
(Jrittenden  proposition.  It  is  to  show  that  the  South  was  not 
for  it  and  did  not  desire  a  compromise,  and  hence  the  Repub- 
licans are  not  responsible  for  the  horrible  consequences  of  its 
failure.  On  this  point-the  testimony  is  very  conclusive,  and  I 
shall  give  it  at  some  length,  please  or  displease  whom  it  may. 
If  Republicans  choose  to  take  the  responsibility  of  saying 
that  they  were  against  the  proposition  and  determined  to 
make  no  settlement,  however  we  may  lament  their  policy,  no 
one  could  object  to  that  position,  as  matter  of  fact ;  but  they 
will  forever  fail  to  satisfy  the  world  that  the  South  was  not 
fairly  committed  to  a  settlement  on  the  basis  of  the  Critten- 
den  proposition,  or  that  the  Northern  Democrats  would  not 
have  compromised  on  that  ground  had  they  possessed  the 
power  to  do  so.  I  am  aware  that  there  are  plenty  of  Repub- 
licans who  woula  still  spurn  to  settle  with  the  South  on  such 
conditions,  as  there  are  also  radical  fanatics  who  would  not 
take  that  section  back  into  the  Union  even  on  the  conditions 
of  the  Constitution.  They  certainly  can  have  no  complaint 
against  my  views  and  sentiments. 

When  Congress  assembled  in  December,  1861,  it  was  obvi- 
ous to  every  one  who  was  at  all  willing  to  heed  Ihe  signs  of 
the  times,  that  the  peace  of  our  country  was  in  imminent 
peril,  the  natural  consequences  of  a  prolonged  war  of  crimina- 
tion and  recrimination  between  the  extreme  and  impracticable 
men  of  the  North  and  the  South.  The  anxious  inquiry  was 
heard  everywhere — "  What  can  be  done  to  allay  the  agitation 
and  save  the  unity  and  peace  of  our  country  ?"  Amongst  those 
who  were  willing  to  make  an  effort  to  compromise  and  settle, 
regardless  of  sectional,  party  or  personal  considerations,  consul- 
tation after  consultation  was  held.  The  first  great  task  was 
to  discover  whether  it  was  possible  to  bring  the  South  up  to 
ground  on  which  the  North  could  stand.  Many  and  various 
were  the  propositions  and  suggestions  produced.  But  it  was 
finally  concluded  that  the  proposition  of  the  venerable  Sena- 
tor from  Kentucky  (Mr.  Crittenden)  was  most  likely  to  com- 
mand the  requisite  support  in  Congress  and  before  the  people. 
These,  together  with  all  others  of  a  similar  character,  were 
referred  to  a  select  committee,  composed  of  the  following 
Senators  : — 

Messrs.  Crittenden,  Powell,  Hunter,  Seward,  Toombs,  Doug- 
32* 


378  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

las,  Collamer,  Davis,  Wade,  Bigler,  Rice,  Doolittle,  and 
Grimes — five  Southern  pen,  five  Republicans,  and  three 
Northern  Democrats.  The  Southern  and  Republican  Senators 
were  regarded  as  the  parties  to  the  issue,  and  hence  a  rule 
was  adopted  that  no  proposition  should  be  reported  to  the 
Senate  as  a  compromise  unless  it  received  a  majority  of  both 
sides.  All  the  Southern  Senators,  save  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr. 
Toombs,  were  known  to  favor  the  Crittenden  proposition.  On 
the  23d  of  December,  this  proposition  came  up  for  considera- 
tion, and  it  became  necessary  for  Messrs.  Davis  and  Toombs 
to  take  their  positions  in  regard  to  it,  «nd  I  shall  never  for- 
get the  substance  of  what  both  said,  for  I  regarded  their 
course  as  involving  the  fate  of  the  compromise.  Mr.  Davis 
said,  "  that  for  himself  the  proposition  would  be  a  bitter  pill, 
for  he  held  that  his  constituents  had  an  equal  right  with  those 
of  any  other  Senator  to  go  into  the  common  Territories,  and 
occupy  and  enjoy  them  with  whatever  might  be  their  property 
at  the  time ;  but  nevertheless,  in  view  of  the  great  stake  in- 
volved, if  the  Republican  side  would  go  for  it  in  good  faith  he 
would  unite  with  them."  Mr.  Toombs  expressed  nearly  the 
same  sentiments,  and  declared  that  his  State  would  accept 
the  proposition  as  a  final  settlement.  Mr.  Coombs  also,  in 
open  Senate,  on  the  7th  of  January,  used  the  following  lan- 
guage :— 

"  But  although  I  insist  on  this  perfect  equality  in  the  terri- 
tory, yet  when  it  was  proposed,  as  I  now  understand  the  Senator 
from  Kentucky  to  propose,  that  the  line  of  36-i>0  shall  be  ex- 
tended, acknowledging  and  protecting  our  property  on  the 
south  side  of  that  line,  for  the  sake  of  peace — permanent  peace, 
I  said  to  the  committee  of  thirteen,  as  I  say  here,  that  with 
other  satisfactory  provisions  I  would  accept  it."  [Page  270, 
Cong.  Globe,  1st.] 

In  addition  to  my  own  testimony  of  what  occurred  in  the 
committee  of  thirteen,  I  present  extracts  from  speeches  of  Mr. 
Douglas  and  Mr.  Pugh,  bearing  directly  on  this  point: — 

On  the  3d  of  Jan.,  in  the  course  of  an  elaborate  speech,  Mr. 
Douglas  used  the  following  language : — 

"  If  you  of  the  Republican  side  are  not  willing  to  accept  this 
nor  the  proposition  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky,  pray  tell  us 
what  you  will  do?  I  address  the  inquiry  to  the  Republicans 
alone,  for  the  reason  that  in  the  committee  of  thirteen,  a  few 
days  ago,  EVERY  MEMBER  FROM  THE  SOUTH,  including  those  from 
the  Cotton  States  [Messrs.  DAVIS  and  TOOMBS]  expressed  their 
readiness  to  accept  the  proposition  of  my  venerable  friend  from 
Kentucky,  as  a  final  settlement  of  the  controversy,  if  tendered 
and  sustained  by  the  Republican  members.  Hence  the  sole 
responsibility  of  our  disagreement,  and  the  only  difficulty  in 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  879 

the  way  of  an  amicable  adjustment,  is  with  the  Republican 
party/'  These  remarks  were  made,  as  I  well  remember,  be- 
fore a  very  full  Senate — in  the  presence  of  nearly,  if  not  quite 
all  the  Republican  and  Southern  Senators,  and  no  one  dare  to 
dispute  the  facts  stated. 

Mr.  Pugh  on  the  2d  day  of  March,  in  the  course  of  a  very 
able  speech,  remarked  : — 

"  But  suppose  that  Senator  does  promise  me  a  vote  on  the 
Crittenden  proposition  :  1  have  followed  him  for  three  months; 
I  have  followed  my  honorable  friend  from  Kentucky  [Mr. 
CrittendenJ  for  three  months ;  I  have  followed  my  friend,  the 
Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  [Mr.  Bigler]  for  three  months ;  I 
have  voted  with  them  on  all  these  propositions  at  a  time  when 
there  were  twelve  other  Senators  in  this  chamber  on  whose 
votes  we  could  rely ;  and  what  came  of  it  all  ?  Did  we  ever 
get  a  vote  on  the  Grittenden  proposition  ?  Never.  Did  we 
ever  get  a  vote  on  the  peace  conference  proposition  ?  Never. 
Did  we  ever  get  a  vote  on  the  bill  introduced  by  the  Senator 
from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Bigler]  to  remit  these  propositions 
to  a  vote  of  the  people  ?  Never.  They  were  not  strong  enough 
to  displace  the  Pacific  railroad  bill,  which  stood  here  and  defied 
them  in  the  Senate  for  more  than  a  month.  They  were  not 
strong  enough  to  set  aside  this  plunder  bill  you  call  a  tariff. 
They  were  not  strong  enough  to  beat  a  pension  bill  one  morn- 
ing. For  three  long  months  have  I  followed  the  Senator  an<l 
others,  begging  for  a  vote  on  these  questions ;  never  can  we 
get  it ;  never ;  and  now  I  am  to  be  deluded  no  further ;  and  1 
use  that  word  delusion  certainly  in  no  unkind  sense  to  my 
friend. 

"  The  Crittenden  proposition  has  been  endorsed  by  the  al- 
most unanimous  vote  of  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky.  It  has 
been  endorsed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  noble  old  Common- 
wealth of  Virginia.  It  has  been  petitioned  for  by  a  larger 
number  of  the  electors  of  the  United  States  than  any  proposi- 
tion that  was  ever  before  Congress.  I  believe  in  my  heart, 
to-day,  that  it  would  carry  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
people  of  my  State,  aye,  sir,  and  of  nearly  every  other  State 
in  the  Union.  Before  the  Senators  from  the  State  of  Missis- 
sippi left  this  Chamber,  I  heard  one  of  them,  who  now  assumes, 
at  least,  to  be  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  propose 
to  accept  it,  and  to  maintain  the  Union,  if  that  proposition 
could  receive  the  vote  it  ought  to  receive  from  the  other  side  of 
this  Chamber.  Therefore,  of  all  your  propositions,  of  all 
your  amendments,  knowing,  as  I  do,  and  knowing  that  the 
historian  will  write  it  down,  at  any  time  before  the  first  of 
January,  a  two-thirds  vote  for  the  Crittenden  resolutions  in 
this  Chamber  would  have  saved  every  State  in  the  Union  but 


380  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

South  Carolina.  Georgia  would  be  here  by  her  representatives, 
and  Louisiana  also — those  two  great  States  which,  at  least, 
would  have  broken  the  whole  column  of  secession." 

Mr.  Douglas,  at  the  same  time  said  in  reply,  "  I  can  con- 
firm the  Senator's  declaration  that  Senator  Davis  himself, 
when  on  the  committee  of  thirteen,  was  ready  at  all  times  to 
compromise  on  the  Critlenden  proposition.  I  will  go  further 
and  say  that  Mr.  Toombs  was  also  ready  to  do  so." 

But  if  this  testimony  were  not  in  existence  at  all,  do  we  not 
all  know  that  the  great  State  of  Virginia  endorsed  this  propo- 
sition and  submitted  it  to  the  other  States  as  a  basis  of  a 
final  adjustment  and  permanent  peace.  It  was  thi$  basis  on 
which  that  State  called  for  the  Peace  Conference  which 
assembled  soon  thereafter. 

It  was  also  endorsed  by  almost  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Legislature  of  Kentucky,  and  subsequently  by  those  of  Ten- 
nessee and  North  Carolina.  But  it  is  useless  to  add  testi- 
mony. The  Republican  members  of  the  Senate  were  against 
the  Crittenden  proposition,  and  the  radicals  of  that  body  were 
against  any  and  every  adjustment.  When  the  Peace  Con- 
ference had  assembled,  and  there  was  some  liope  of  a  satis- 
factory settlement,  it  is  well  known  that  M^  Chandler,  Mr. 
Harlan  and  others  urged  their  respective  Governors  to  send  on 
impracticable  fanatics  as  Commissioners  in  order  to  defeat 
a  compromise. 

In  what  I  have  said  I  have  not  intended  to  extenuate  or  ex- 
cuse the  wickedness  of  the  secessionists.  Bad  and  impolitic 
as  was  the  policy  of  the  Northern  radicals,  it  furnished  no  suffi- 
cient reason  for  secession,  rebellion,  and  war ;  but  I  believed 
most  sincerely  then  as  I  do  now.  that  the  acceptance  of  Mr. 
Crittenden's  proposition  by  one-third  of  the  Republicans  in 
Congress,  at  the  right  time,  would  have  broken  down  secession 
in  nearly  all  the  States  now  claiming  to  be  out  of  the  Union  ; 
and  it  might  have  been  accepted  without  any  sacrifice  of 
honor  or  principle.  So  far  as  the  common  territory  of  the 
United  States  was  concerned,  it  proposed  an  equitable  parti- 
tion, giving  the  North  about  900,000  square  miles,  and  the 
South  about  300,000.  No  umpire  that  could  have  been 
selected  would  have  given  the  North  more. 

If,  then,  it  was  a  material  interest  and  value  we  are  con- 
tending for,  it  gave  us  our  full  share  ;  if  it  was  the  application 
of  a  political  principle  the  Republicans  were  struggling  for, 
it  allowed  the  application  of  their  doctrine  to  three-fourths  of 
the  estate  that  belonged  to  all  the  States  and  all  the  people. 
It  expressly  excluded  slavery  from  900,000  square  miles,  and 
allowed  it  in  the  remaining  300,000.  The  Republicans,  it  is 
true,  had  just  elected  a  President,  and  were  about  to  take 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  381 

possession  of  the  Government ;  but  still  the  popular  vote  in 
the  several  States  showed  that  they  were  over  a  million  of  votes 
in  the  minority  of  the  electors  of  the  United  States.  Being  a 
million  in  the  minority,  if  they  secured  the  application  of  their 
principles  to  three-fourths  of  all  the  territory,  was  that  not 
enough  ?  Could  they  not  on  that  have  boasted  of  a  great 
triumph  ? 

For  a  time  these  arguments  and  considerations  seemed  to 
have  weight  with  the  more  moderate  and  conservative  of  the 
Republican  Senators.  Indeed  at  one  time  I  had  strong  hopes 
of  a  settlement.  But  the  radicals  rallied  in  force,  headed  by 
Mr.  Greeley,  and  the  current  was  soon  changed.  We  were 
then  met  with  the  argument  that  the  people,  in  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  had  decided  to  exclude  slavery  from  all  the  ter- 
ritory, and  that  the  members  of  Congress  dare  not  attempt  to 
reverse  that  decision.  We  then  determined  to  go  a  step 
further  and  endeavor  to  overcome  this  obstacle  ;  and  it  was  to 
this  end,  after  consultation  with  Mr.  Crittenden  and  others, 
that  I  myself  introduced  a  bill  into  the  Senate  providing  for 
taking  the  sense  of  the  people  of  the  several  States  on  the 
Crittenden  proposition,  for  the  direction  of  members  of  Con- 
gress in  voting  for  or  against  its  submission  for  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  States,  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 

This  was  an  appeal  to  the  source  of  all  political  power,  and 
would  have  relieved  the  members  of  all  serious  responsibility. 
The  vote  of  the  representative  would  have  been  in  accordance 
with  the  votes  of  his  constituents,  either  for  or  against  the 
proposition.  The  only  objection  made  was  that  it  was  some- 
what irregular  and  extraordinary.  But  the  same  men  could 
not  make  that  objection  at  present.  Too  many  extraordinary 
things  have  since  been  done  by  their  chosen  agents.  I  be- 
lieved with  the  Senator  from  Ohio,  as  I  believe  still,  that  the 
proposition  would  have  ca/ried  a  majority  in  nearly  all  the 
States  of  the  Union,  but  it  shared  the  fate  of  all  other  efforts 
for  settlement.  Would  to  God  our  country  was  now  in  the  con- 
dition it  then  was,  and  that  the  people  could  be  allowed  to 
settle  the  controversy  for  themselves  under  the  lights  of 
eighteen  months'  experience,  of  war  and  carnage,  and  count- 
less sacrifices  of  national  strength  and  character. 

"Very  truly,  your  obedient  servant. 

Wn.  BIGLER 


382  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 


LETTER    II. 

CLEAEFIELD,  PA.,  November  1,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  30th  ultimo,  I 
have  to  say  that  you  have  been  rightly  informed.  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  be  a  candidate  for  United  States  Senator  at  the  coming 
election,  and  have  so  expressed  myself  to  friends  on  all  proper 
occasions.  I  have  a  number  of  reasons,  public  and  private, 
for  this  course,  one  of  which  is  that  the  Eastern  and  Northern 
sections  of  tljc  State,  make  special  claim  to  the  Senator,  at 
this  time,  on  the  ground  that  we  have  one  in  the  West 
recently  elected,  and  cannot  reasonably  claim  both  for  so  long 
a  term. 

The  other  question  you  ask,  "  what  can  be  done  to  save  the 
country,"  is  not  so  readily  answered.  The  usual  response  is, 
God  knows.  Few  of  our  best  thinkers  seem  to  have  any  clear 
views  on  the  question  ;  and  it  is  not  even  certain  that  the 
Administration  at  "Washington  has  a  well  defined  policy  to 
that  end.  I  have  some  thoughts  on  the  subject  which  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  give  you.  They  may  seem  to  you  crude,  and 
on  •some  points  even  novel  and  startling ;  but  they  are  the  re- 
sult of  some  reflection. 

The  sword  is  the  only  agency  at  work.  But  the  sword  can- 
not do  all.  It  is  an  agent  of  destruction.  It  can  tear  down 
but  cannot  build  up.  It  may  chastise  and  silence  the  rebels 
in  the  field ;  but  it  cannot  make  a  union  of  States ;  it  cannot 
restore  confidence  and  fraternity  amongst  a  people  estranged 
and  alienated  from  each  other.  If  the  war  was  against  the 
leaders  in  the  South  only,  as  many  at  the  beginning  supposed, 
then  the  sword  might  put  them.down  and  the  masses  could 
return  to  their  allegience.  But  the  conflict  turns  out  to  be 
with  the  whole  mass  of  the  people  within  the  revolting  States, 
old  and  young,  male  and  female,  numbering  many  millions. 
With  such  a  power,  sooner  or  later,  we  shall  have  to  treat  and 
ate.  The  sword  alone  will  never  restore  this  people  to 
the  Union. 

You  well  know  that  when  the  present  calamities  menaced 
the  nation,  I  was  for  peaceful  means  to  avert  the  blow.  Then 
our  present  suffering  and  sacrifices  could  have  been  avoided, 
and  as  I  believe,  the  unity  of  the  States  preserved  for  genera- 
tions, without  the  sacrifice  of  principle,  or  honor,  or  conscience 
on  either  side ;  passion,  prejudice  and  fanaticism  only  would 
have  been  required  to  give  way ;  and  I  still  think,  nay,  I  am 
sure  that  other  means  beside  war  are  necessary  to  save  our 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  383 

country — our  whole  country — from  present  afflictions  and  im- 
pending ruin. 

I  know  how  easy  it  is  to  talk  about  war  and  carnage;  about 
stratagetic  positions  and  brilliant  victories ;  about  the  prompt 
subjugation  of  the  South  by  the  North;  even  how  pleasant  it 
may  be  to  some  to  float  in  the  common  current  of  excitement 
and  passion ;  and  especially  how  unpleasant,  if  not  unsafe  it  is 
to  stem  this  tide.  But  the  time  is  coming,  if  it  be  not  now, 
when  the  public  man  who  would  render  his  country  a  substan- 
tial service  must  do  this.  He  must  look  at  the  whole  work 
before  us,  and  strike  for  the  right  regardless  of  clamor  or  con- 
sequences to  himself  personally. 

We  have  had  war  for  eighteen  months,  the  like  of  which 
the  world  has  seldom  witnessed  before.  To  sustain  which  a 
national  debt  of  startling  magnitude,  which  must  hang  over 
posterity  long  into  the  future,  has  already  been  created,  and 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  invaluable  lives  sacrificed, 
on  the  Union  side  alone,  in  addition  to  the  many  thousands 
that  have  been  crippled  or  diseased  for  life ;  and  yet  but  little, 
if  any  substantial  progress  has  been  made  in  the  good  work  of 
re-establishing  the  Union,  or  even  of  maintaining  the  Federal 
authority  within  the  revolting  States.  Has  not  then,  the  ex- 
periment of  war,  as  a  means  of  extricating  the  country  from 
its  present  deplorable  condition,  been  already  tested — tested 
at  least  to  such  an  extent  as  to  prove  its  utter  futility  unaided 
by  other  means. 

It  was  a  happy  thought  of  President  Lincoln,  expressed  in 
his  Inaugural,  that  if  we  went  to  war  we  could  not  fight 
always ;  "  and  when,  after  much  loss  on  both  sides  and  no 
gain  on  cither,  you  cease  fighting,  the  identical  old  questions 
as  to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon  you."  This  pro- 
phetic and  highly  significant  sentiment  shows  that  even  Mr. 
Lincoln,  before  the  war  began,  anticipated  the  time,  in  case  it 
did  begin,  when  it  would  be  necessary  to  put  the  sword  to 
rest,  at  least  for  a  season,  in  order  to  resume  the  identical  old 
questions  about  intercourse  and  settlement.  It  does  not  seem 
to  have  occurred  to  him  that  the  sword  could  do  the  whole 
work,  but  that  inevitably  we  would  have  to  come  back  to  the 
original  point  to  compromise  and  settle.  If  then,  we  cannot 
fight  always  ;  what  amo'unt  of  fighting  is  necessary  to  render 
it  proper  to  prepare  to  cease,  or  suspend  in  order  to  consider 
terms  of  reconciliation.  There  has  already  "  been  much  loss 
on  both  sides  and  no  gain  on  either,"  and  whilst  the  time  to 
cease  fighting  may  not  be  yet,  the  period  has  surely  come 
when  other  means  besides  the  sword  should  be  employed  in 
the  effort  to  save  the  government  and  country.  Ccrlsunly 
the  object  of  the  war,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  is  to  go, 


384  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

should  be  definitely  known  to  tlie  country.  If  it  be  intended 
to  subjugate  the  States  in  rebellion,  and  hold  them,  not  as 
States  in  the  Union,  but  as  conquered  provinces,  then  the 
sword  must  be  kept  in  constant  motion,  and  war  and  carnage 
must  be  the  order  of  the  day.  New  levies  and  fresh  supplies 
may  be  properly  raised,  for  it  will  require  a  formidable  army 
in  each  of  the  seceded  States  to  execute  and  maintain  this 
scheme.  If  extermination  be  the  object,  then  the  sword 
should  have  unrestrained  license  to  deal  death  and  destruction 
amongst  the  rebels,  in  all  parts  of  their  country,  regardless  of 
sex,  or  age,  or  condition.  But  neither  of  these  purposes,  if 
practicable,  would  re-establish  the  Union,  although  there 
might  remain  a  Union  composed  of  certain  States.  But, 
when  the  Union  is  re-established,  the  South  as  well  as  the 
North  must  be  in  it;  the  family  of  States  must  exist  as  here- 
tofore, else  it  will  not  be  the  Union  about  which  we  have 
talked  so  much  and  for  which  so  many  brave  men  have  offered 
up  their  lives.  The  physical  triumph  of  the  North  over  the 
South  in  the  field,  as  the  North  in  the  end,  may  triumph,  is  not 
the  whole  of  the  task.  The  States  must  be  brought  together ; 
the  feelings  of  the  people  of  both  sections  must  be  so  con- 
strained and  moderated,  that  they  can  fraternize  and  live 
together,  else  the  Union  is  gone  forever.  To  subjugate  the 
Southern  States  and  so  hold  them,  could  subserve  no  good 
end  for  either  section,  and  in  no  way,  that  I  can  discover, 
advance  the  welfare  of  the  North ;  for  so  long  as  the  South 
was  so  held  their  hate  of  the  North  would  increase,  and  whilst 
the  North  so  held  the  South,  it  could  do  but  little  else ;  mean- 
while its  material  interest  must  languish  and  die.  But,  in 
addition,  such  a  work  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  genius 
of  our  institutions  and  could  scarcely  fail  to  lead  to  their  utter 
perversion  and  ultimate  overthrow,  adding  to  the  calamities  of 
disunion,  the  sacrifice  of  free  government.  Conquest  and 
empire,  however  magnificent,  could  not  compensate  for  such  a 
loss. 

To  exterminate  the  inhabitants  of  the  South,  would  be  a 
deliberate  emasculation  of  the  Union,  rendering  its  recon- 
struction at  once  impracticable  and  hopeless,  and  involve  a 
work  of  barbarity,  from  which  the  Northern  people  would 
shrink  in  horror.  The  existence  of  the  Southern  States,  in 
some  form,  with  their  inhabitants,  and  on  some  terms  of  inter- 
course, is  highly  essential,  nay,  I  will  say,  indispensible  to 
the  welfare  of  the  North.  I  am,  therefore  against  extermina- 
tion, and  against  the  policy  of  holding  the  Southern  States  as 
conquered  provinces.  This  ground  can  be  so  easily  main- 
tained on  purely  selfish  considerations  for  the  North,  which 
will  occur  to  all,  that  I  need  not  trouble  you  with  their  pre- 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  385 

sentation  on  this  occasion.  I  am  for  re-establishing  the 
Union  as  it  was,  or  making  a  Union  as  similar  as  practicable, 
the  States  to  be  equals,  and  to  be  sovereign  to  the  extent  the 
States  now  are,  each  to  have  and  enjoy  su«h  domestic  institu- 
tions as  it  may  choose,  and,  were  I  in  Congress  I  should  sus- 
tain that  measure  of  war  and  that  only,  that  would  clearly 
tend  to  the  accomplishment  of  these  ends  ;  but  no  war  of  sub- 
jugation or  extermination. 

I  know  it  may  be  said  in  reply  to  all  this,  then  let  the 
Southern  people  lay  down  their  arms  and  come  back  into  the 
Union,  and  all  will  be  right  again.  Would  to  God  they  could 
be  induced  so  to  do  !  There  is  no  guarantee  in  reason  that  I 
would  not  be  willing  to  grant  them.  But  do  we  see  any  indica- 
tions of  such  a  return  to  reason  and  duty?  I  can  see  none, 
and  I  expect  to  see  none,  so  long  as  the  sword  is  unaccom- 
panied by  agents  for  settlement  and  peace.  When  our  army 
went  to  Mexico  it  was  accompanied  by  a  peace  commission  in 
order  to  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  for  settlement.  In 
God's  name,  I  would  ask,  should  we  do  less  when  engaged  in 
a  war  amongst  ourselves  ?  It  is  idle,  and  worse  than  idle,  to 
delude  ourselves  about  the  nature  of  the  conflict  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  We  cannot  make  a  Union  by  force  alone, 
though  we  may  triumph  over  the  South  in  the  field,  and  we 
may  as  well  look  the  complications  square  in  the  face  as  not. 
The  first  question  is,  do  we  intend — do  we  desire,  to  have  all 
the  Southern  States  back  into  the  Union,  on  the  terms  of  the 
Constitution  ?  If  we  do,  then  it  is  seen  that  they  are  to  be 
the  equals  of  the  Northern  States,  in  rights,  sovereignty,  and 
dignity.  Does  any  one  believe  that  such  a  relation  can  be 
eatablished  and  maintained  by  the  sword  alone  ?  Should  a 
certain  number  of  the  States  subjugate  and  humiliate  the 
others,  then  they  could  not  live  together  as  equals  and  friends, 
for  the  subjugated  are  always  the  enemies  of  the  subjugators. 
When  all  the  States,  therefore,  resume  their  former  relations, 
or  new  relations  of  Union  and  intercourse,  it  must  be  the  act 
of  all,  if  the.  settlement  is  to  be  complete  and  permanent. 

I  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  patching  up  a  dishonorable 
peace — about  the  humiliation  and  disgrace  to  the  North,  in- 
volved in  any  and  every  proposition  for  settlement,  and  there 
is  nothing  that  is  said  about  the  affairs  of  the  country  for 
which  I  have  less  respect.  It  is  even  held  by  some  that  he 
is  a  disloyal  citizen  who  seeks  to  re-establish  the  Union  by 
other  means  than  the  sword.  How  absurd  !  The  sword  has 
been  at  work ;  its  agency  has  been  tested — vigorously  and 
terribly  tested,  and  how  stand  the  States  now  that  should 
be  in  harmony  ?  The  sad  response  is,  where  they  were  when 
the  war  began,  arrayed  in  grim  and  relentless  hostility. 
33 


386  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

Then,  why  spurn  other  agencies  to  aid  in  the  good  work  ?  In 
the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln  we  cannot  fight  always,  and  we 
should  not  fight  longer,  unless  we  can  do  so  as  a  means  of 
ultimate  union  and  permanent  peace. 

What,  then,  can  be  done  ?  and  I  regret  that  all  that  should 
be  done  cannot  be  accomplished  promptly.  The  States  now 
in  the  Union  should  be  in  Convention,  or  have  delegates  ready 
to  go  into  Convention,  in  order  to  reaffirm  the  present  consti- 
tutional relations  amongst  the  States,  with  explanations  on 
controverted  points,  or  to  make  such  new  relations  as  may  be 
found  necessary  to  bring  together  and  retain  all  the  States. 
The  State  Legislatures  could  petition  Congress  for  such  a 
Convention,  as  provided  by  the  Constitution,  and  Congress 
could  make  the  necessary  provisions  for  it,  before  the  close  of 
the  coming  session.  Such  State  legislatures  as  do  not  meet  in 
the  regular  order  could  be  specially  convened  ;  and  when  the 
necessary  number  of  States  petition,  it  is  obligatory  on  Con- 
gress to  comply.  The  body  thus  constituted  would  be  compe- 
tent to  adjust  and  settle  all  the  complications  which  now  beset 
us.  In  the  midst  of  war,  then,  we  should  be  prepared  to  make 
peace.  Whereas,  when  the  time  comes  for  settlement,  in  the 
absence  of  such  a  body,  it  might  be  found  that  we  have  no 
competent  authority  in  existence  to  do  the  things  that  may 
be  necessary.  Neither  Congress  nor  the  Executive,  nor  the 
two  together,  have  rightful  authority  to  change  the  old  or  to 
make  new  relations  amongst  the  States.  Congress  may  sub- 
mit amendments  to  the  Constitution  for  the  ratification  of  the 
States,  and  I  believe  the  present  calamities  of  the  nation  could 
have  been  averted  in  that  way  in  the  winter  of  1861 ;  but  now 
the  disorders  of  the  country  are  probably  too  complicated  to  be 
reached  in  that  form. 

Meanwhile,  the  President  and  Congress  should  prepare  the 
way  for  settlement;  indeed,  by  consulting  the  people  through 
the  ballot-box,  they  might  make  a  settlement,  to  be  ratified  by 
the  States  thereafter.  Let  the  President  propose  an  armistice, 
for  the  purpose  of  considering  some  programme  of  .reunion  and 
settlement,  in  which  the  feelings  and  rights  of  the  masses  in 
the  South  shall  be  duly  appreciated  and  provided  for.  Invite 
them  to  come  back  on  the  conditions  of  the  Constitution,  with 
explicit  definitions  on  controverted  points,  or  on  new  condi- 
tions with  the  fullest  assurance  of  justice  and  equality  when 
they  do  so  come.  Let  him  do  this,  and  challenge  the  rebel 
authorities  to  submit  such  propositions  as  may  be  agreed 
upon,  to  an  unrestrained  vote  of  the  citizens  of  the  Southern 
States,  as  he  will,  at  the  same  time,  submit  such,  propositions 
to  a  vote  of  those  of  the  Northern  States,  with  the  under- 
standing that  if  a  majority  of  slave  States,  and  a  majority  of 


AFRICAN  SLAVERY.  387 

free  States  accept  the  proposition,  its  conditions  should  be 
binding  until  ratified  or  superseded  by  the  States.  Suppose 
the  Confederate  authorities  reject  this,  or  any  similar  proposi- 
tion, no  harm  could  ensue  to  the  Northern  cause.  Such 
'action  would  only  leave  them  in  a  worse  light  before  the  world, 
and  the  Government  at  Washington  in  the  better.  The  preli- 
minaries for  such  a  movement  could  be  readily  arranged  by 
commissioners  selected  for  that  purpose. 

It  may  be  said  that  we  are  constantly  inviting  the  Southern 
people  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  come  back  into  the  Union 
and  this  would  seem  to  be  conclusive;  but  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  they  rebelled,  because,  as  they  say,  the  party  now 
in  power  at  Washington,  would  not  permit  them  to  enjoy,  in 
peace,  the  real  conditions  and  covenants  of  that  Union,  and 
that  there  is  no  evidence  that  they  would  fare  better  now. 
Beside,  he  has  studied  human  nature  to  a  poor  purpose,  who 
cannot  discover  that  unconditional  submission  involves  a  de- 
gree of  humiliation,  to  which  they  will  never  come  so  long  as 
they  have  any  means  of  resistance.  In  the  effort  to  gain  back 
even  the  masses,  their  passions  and  pride,  and  self-respect, 
may  be  wisely  considered.  We  must  give  them  some  new 
ground ;  some  pretext,  if  not  complete  and  substantial  guaran- 
tees, before  we  can  expect  them  to  entertain  the  idea  of  for- 
saking their  present  leaders,  and  embracing  the  old  Govern- 
ment. 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  indignation  and  even  contempt  with 
which  these  suggestions  will  be  perused,  by  some,  in  both  sec- 
tions; but  I  care  not;  are  we  not  engaged  in  an  effort  to 
re-establish  and  maintain  the  Union,  and  are  not  the  seceded 
States  to  compose  part  of  that  Union  ?  Then  why  not  endeavor 
to  rescue  them  from  destruction,  and  cultivate  good  relations 
with  them  ? 

When  the  family  of  States  again  exists  as  heretofore,  they 
must  become  our  brethren  and  our  equals  in  every  particular. 
What  pleasure,  then,  can  we  have  in  their  destruction  or  hu- 
miliation. If  there  be  any  friends  of  the  old  flag  and  the  old 
Government  within  the  seceded  States,  they  should  cultivate 
the  same  spirit  toward  the  North.  The  absent  element  of  a 
substantial  Union  is  fraternity  amongst  the  people,  and  that 
can  never  be  furnished  by  the  sword.  Again,  in  the  words  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  "  there  has  been  much  loss  on  both  sides  and  no 
gain  on  either,"  and  the  identical  old  question  as  to  terms  of 
intercourse  are  upon  us,  and  we  should  seek  so  to  adjust  them 
as  to  re-establish  the  Union  on  an  imperishable  basis. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  is  this  a  war  for  the  Union  ?  Are  we 
sure  that  those  in  authority  intend  nothing  else  ?  They  cer- 
tainly profess  nothing  else,  and  I  attribute  to  them  nothing 


388  AFRICAN  SLAVERY. 

else.  If  the  war  is  not  for  the  Union,  and  is  not  directed  with 
sole  reference  to  that  end,  then  it  is  the  most  stupendous  fraud 
that  has  ever  been  practised  upon  the  world.  We  all  know, 
however,  that  many,  very  many  of  its  partisans  will  not  be 
satisfied  with  that  issue.  It  might  be  very  important,  there- 
fore, to  the  salvation  of  the  country,  when  the  time  for  recon- 
struction comes,  if  ever  it  should  come,  to  have  the  soundings 
on  this  point  taken  in  advance.  I  should  like  exceedingly  to 
see  a  popular  vote  taken  in  the  North,  especially  in  New  Eng- 
land, between  the  proposition  to  receive  all  the  States  back 
into  the  Union,  on  the  terms  of  the  Constitution,  which  makes 
the  States  equals  and  alike  sovereign,  each  with  the  right  to 
have  such  domestic  institutions  as  it  may  choose ;  and  a  pro- 
position to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. It  might  be  interesting,  as  well  as  instructive,  to 
unveil  the  hypocrisy  of  a  certain  school  of  politicians  who 
have  clamored  so  zealously  about  the  war  for  the  Union.  It 
is  painfully  apparent  that  notwithstanding  this  clamor,  they 
do  not  intend  that  the  Union  shall  exist  hereafter  on  the  terms 
of  the  Constitution,  if  it  is  to  embrace  all  the  States.  The 
ratio  of  slave  representation,  and  the  rendition  of  fugitive 
slaves,  are  features  of  the  Constitution  which  they  condemn 
and  abhor.  Between  the  maintenance  of  these  and  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  many  of  them,  in  my 
judgment,  four  to  one,  would  prefer  the  latter.  Their  aversion 
to  these  clauses  of  the  Constitution  were  a  primary  cause  of 
the  alienation  and  hostility  of  the  South,  and  I  fear  they  would 
not  yield  that  aversion  now  to  render  the  Union  what  it  once 
was."  Let  Mr.  Lincoln  try  this  question  if  he  would  solve  the 
problem  of  the  nation's  embroglio. 

Do  not  understand  me  that  I  would  yield  the  sword  or  any 
other  means  to  render  the  Union  what  it  was.  What  I  mean 
is,  that  if  the  Union,  and  that  only  is  the  object,  the  sword 
will  never  find  the  belligerents  in  a  better  condition  to  con- 
summate that  work  than  they  are  now,  and  that  other  agencies 
should  be  promptly  employed.  I  yield  to  no  man  in  devotion 
and  loyalty  to  the  Union  as  it  was,  and  to  the  principles  of 
government  transmitted  to  us  by  our  fathers.  The  mainte- 
nance-and  perpetuation  of  these  shall  be  the  object  nearest 
my  heart,  whether  I  be  in  private  or  public  life. 

With  much  esteem,  I  remain,  yours  truly, 

WM.  BIGLER. 

To  S.  D.  ANDERSON,  Esq.,  Philadelphia,  Fa. 

I  fully  concur  in  all  of  the  above  sentiments, 

JOHN  BELL  ROBINSON. 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CAT  »  PI  •     ,  IA 
AT 

me  AWr:t.".T,RS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TAT  IFORMIA    roc  *  XT, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


FEB  2  2  1977 

LO 


c 
JMIEIWO  WEEKS  FKO, 


APR  28 r 


•in  L9— Series  444 


tO 

2  8 


'DLD-URL       MAP   H  1339 


RENEW 


3  1158009164335 


lilllil 

AA    001114743  6 


